Towards the Light
by Viggorrah
Summary: Two rogue teens are the thorn in society's side. Mutants or not, something needs to be done about them. The question is: who will get to them first? Story now complete!
1. Breaking Out!

_**Disclaimer: **__I don't own the X-men characters or anything else cleverly already owned by Marvel (who is now subsequently owned by Disney _O.o_). The OCs are mine though._

_**Setting: **__Crossover between X-Men: Evolution and Wolverine and the X-Men. The X-Men (Jean, Scott, Kurt, Kitty, etc.) are all teens, but this story is set in the latter's time period. So we're going to encounter MRD and all their fun friends._

_**A/N:**_ _Mucho thanks goes out to my beta, Darknessslayer0, since this story was stuck in my head for the longest time but he helped me make it real. So thanks, love ya! Also, I realize most people who read my stories expected a CSI fic to be published instead of a random X-men one, but I wanted to change it up a bit so here this one is. I still plan on writing another CSI fic, though, so don't completely flip out on me just yet._

_In regard to this one, it probably sucks since I haven't really watched a lot of either series so some things may be wrong, but I at least tried._

* * *

**Chapter 1: Breaking Out!**

Soldiers were regularly making their rounds past the long halls of holding cells, each holding anywhere from none to three people. Though, these people weren't people; they were mutants. This facility was one of many that were popping up in major cities to help the MRD [Mutant Response Division] deal with the "mutant menace" that was apparently taking over the United States. This particular MRD containment facility happened to be located in Nevada, specifically right south of Las Vegas.

In one of the holding cells sat two normal-looking teenagers: one, a female, was sitting on the only bed in the cell, her hands tucked behind her head and resting against the wall. One of her black boots was also on the bed, and her eyes were closed. She wore torn black jeans and a zipped up black and dark blue motorcycle jacket that showed some of her midriff at some points. Her right hand had a fingerless glove on it, and her blond-highlighted medium length hair was black and up in a ponytail.

The male, who was sprawled out on the floor beneath her, also wore torn black jeans and a dark gray shirt that said "Moo" on the front. His long dark brown hair hung into his face, covering mostly the right side, and he had a black pair of Converse™ tennis shoes on. Over his shirt hung a dark red unzipped vest and his left hand had the matching fingerless glove to his friend's.

Both had somehow gotten their hands on some Budweiser, and happily obliged in getting rid of it. Sure, they were underage but they didn't care; while they weren't delinquents, they weren't any goody-two-shoes either. The female had recently given up smoking, which she was not of legal age to do either, per the request of her friend.

"I hate this bed," she complained. The male sighed, but she continued, "It's too damn hard."

"At least you have a bed."

"Thanks for making me feel like the jerk," she admonished, receiving another sigh from her friend. Randomly a little while later, a soldier came up to the barrier/door and called to them.

"Hey, freaks," the female lazily cracked open an eye, and the male sat up sluggishly and burped up the beer he'd recently had to acknowledge they heard him.

"I prefer to be addressed by 'Jew'." She told him derisively. "Then again, Auschwitz wasn't outfitted with such shiny, news digs."

"This is not Auschwitz." The man crossly argued.

"Yeah." She frowned arguably. "Let me phone God; I think he's missing a few hundred angels. They're been busy down here building heaven on earth."

"You think somebody would've noticed by now," the male mentioned to his cellmate.

"Well, these angels elusive and hidden," she explained as if the guard wasn't standing there listening. "They're the ones cleverly disguised as present-day Nazis."

"Here's your dinner," he irately said, sliding them two trays and not bothering to try and not spill the food.

"Hey, Julio, where's my chicken fried chicken?" he asked mock-seriously.

"My name is _John_,"

"What the hell makes you think we care?" the female asked, obviously uninterested in the food.

"Look bitch," he began. "Don't make me report you to my boss; he'll have you two out of here before you can say 'MRD'."

"Oh, you're just mad 'cause a couple of teenage mutants can beat you in a drinking contest," she replied dryly, closing her eye. John glared at the two before moving on, presumably to go bother some of the other mutants while delivering their dinners.

"Alex," the male said.

"What, Terrence?" she answered, not moving a muscle.

"You've got to learn not to aggravate the guards."

"They're the ones who come over talkin' to me. It's not my fault they're all idiots."

"You're unbelievable." Terrence stated, smiling at his friend's remark. He glanced at the covered food and then back at Alex.

"You about ready to get out of here?" he asked quietly.

"I'm ready when you are; we've already been here for…"

"…a week."

"Yeah, and besides, tonight's menu doesn't look all that appetizing." Alex added.

"You say that like it ever looks appetizing." Terrence replied, standing up. She did the same.

"I meant tonight the food might actually fight back when you try to eat it," Alex clarified, "sometimes we're lucky enough to get something that's already dead."

"You have a point."

"Don't I always?" she smiled sweetly at him as she walked to the electrified barrier blocking their escape. Terrence couldn't help but smile back at her as she lifted her hands out and above her head. Soon, the lights around their and other cells began flickering, and the barrier seemed to be malfunctioning. Then everything seemed to shut off… save the eerie red light and blaring siren that followed soon afterward.

"After you," she told Terrence.

"Why, thank you," he went along. Terrence went out into the deserted hallway and looked down both ways, waiting for the soldiers that were sure to be there soon.

"Do you remember which way is out?" she asked.

"Not really," he confessed. "This place all looks the same to me."

"I was afraid you'd say that."

"I think MRD needs a new interior designer." Terrence suggested.

"I think MRD needs to stop building mutant containment facilities."

"That too," he agreed. "Well, we could try and ask for directions.."

"Yeah, that'll go well. 'Hi, sir, would you be kind enough to show a couple of prisoners which way is the exit?'"

"Well of course _that_ wouldn't work," he replied, rolling his eyes, "telling him we're prisoners is sure to get us caught."

"Hold it right there you two!" they heard someone yell at them. The duo turned around and found themselves face to face with a squad of angry, armed guards, all aiming their weapons at them.

"Hm. Their response time seems to have improved dramatically.." Alex pointed out quietly.

"Well, I'm sure they know about us and our habits." Terrence whispered back.

"You give them more credit than I do." She said with a disapproving sideways glance.

"Hey! Stop talking!" An obvious rookie shouted. The teens glanced at each other, silently asking a question: _Do you want to take them out, or should I?_ The soldiers started to slowly advance towards them, and Alex stepped in front of her friend.

"Alright, you punks," She said with a sinister smirk; she clapped her hands and rubbed them together, smirking again when the guards backed away. Her hands suddenly glowed a bright white and electricity shot from her first two fingers on both hands, hitting the row of fire sprinklers on the ceiling. All the soldiers screamed in surprise because of the sudden intrusion of water, creating a path for them down the middle.

"Showoff," Terrence mumbled. Alex smirked at him over her shoulder.

"Shut up and come on," she said, starting to run through the sea of preoccupied soldiers. The duo rounded several corners and busted through a pair of double doors, only to find themselves surrounded by more soldiers.

"Where the hell do they find all these guys?" Terrence asked, annoyed. "1-800-GET-GUNS?"

"Can we, uh, worry about that later?" Alex asked. He quickly glanced at her, and then back at their opponents. Suddenly a rumbling filled the room, followed shortly by a loud explosion to their right. The wall was revealed to have a hole in it, and through it came a small band of people. The first one that appeared had to be at least six feet tall, with a very muscular body. The other two appeared to be twins, of average build and height. The entire room grew quiet, and everyone just stared at each other.

"More mutants!" someone finally yelled. "Get 'em!" Shots began to be fired at the new group, as well as a few in Alex and Terrence' direction. The latter swiftly knelt down and touched the ground, and the ground in front of the two sprouted up in the form of an enormous wall.

"Matter bonding sure comes in handy," Alex approved.

"I'll say!" Terrence replied. "Now let's get out of here."

"Right. I'll distract them!" She determinedly nodded, and ran around the wall. He reached to stop her, but he was too slow.

"Damnit, that's _not_ what I meant," Terrence said out loud, hearing the shots being fired at her. He touched the wall and it transformed into a large, metal sledgehammer. Terrence found his friend bouncing on top of the soldiers' heads, leaping from one helmet to the next. "Alex, what are you _doing_?"

"Distracting them!" She shakily did a handstand on a soldier's head as she spoke to him. The surrounding guards looked up at her, too surprised to get in a good shot at her.

"I thought you meant the other distract…oh forget it." Terrence started taking out the closest soldiers with the sledgehammer, and as he got to the one she was balancing on, Alex bounced to another soldier, and then another, and another. This went on until the last one, when she leaped into the air and flipped over the incoming sledgehammer. Alex nimbly landed on her feet in a kneeling position, and stood up when one of the mutants from the other group called to them.

"You two are _amazing_!" the muscle head admired.

"Thanks," Terrence said, nervously rubbing the back of his head.

"Do you guys do your own choreography?" one of the twins asked, startled at their ability to work so well together.

"Chore..ography?" Alex repeated, confused.

"Yeah, your moves! They were flawless as if you'd had practiced them." The twin explained. The two gave each other a puzzled look. Then the female shrugged.

"We don't…plan anything," she told them.

"We just make it up as we go along."

"That's even more incredible!" they all complemented.

"If I knew we were going to be famous, I would have brought headshots." Terrence nervously laughed.

"You're so full of yourself," Alex scolded as she walked away, stepping over the sea of unconscious guards. The bad thing was, Terrence couldn't tell if she was kidding or not.

"Alex? Hey," he called, uncertainly glancing between his retreating friend and the trio, "you're not serious, right? Right? Alex?"

* * *

After a few more encounters with smaller bands of guards, the five teens made it to their destination: the hangar. The group was surrounded by tanks, jeeps, helicopters, motorcycles, and weapons galore. MRD personnel apparently kept all their vehicles and supplies in one, easy-to-access location in case they had to go out and round up some mutants.

"Well, who here can drive?" the tallest teen asked.

"Who cares?" Alex ignorantly answered, walking into the room, looking like she was shopping for a vehicle. Terrence apologized for his friend's coldness and advised them.

"Legality's not a real big issue with her," he informed them. "I assume none of you have driven before?" The three shook their heads. "I suggest you all carpool in one of the jeeps, then. Who's the oldest?"

"I am," a twin said. Terrence nodded.

"It's real easy to learn. Come watch me for a sec." he ordered. While Terrence was with the other three, Alex moved about the hangar surveying potential escape vehicles. She had briefly considered jumping in one of the helicopters, but seeing as though she wanted to live long enough to escape the grounds she quickly dismissed the idea. The teen deviously smirked when she found the right vehicle.

"If you're done with driver's ed, we need to go!" Alex shouted, climbing on a black and dark gray motorcycle with the letters 'MRD' in blood red on each side. Soon, Terrence appeared from around a helicopter and jogged over to her.

"We're ready; I-" he cut himself off, stunned at what she was sitting on, "Alex, why are you on a motorcycle?"

"'Cause while flying a helicopter is faster, actually _flying_ it seems considerably harder than depicted in _Ace Combat 4_."

"You only fly planes in that game.." he slowly pointed out, climbing on a bike identical to hers.

"My point exactly," she said, starting the engine with the conveniently placed keys already in the ignition. Alex impishly revved the engine, grinning wildly when she leaned forward as the bike inched forward through the other vehicles and to the hangar door controls. Terrence warily regarded her, now believing putting her on a bike might have been a bad idea. He started his own bike, and signaled to the others who had climbed into one of the jeeps to follow them.

"We're good to go, Alex!" Terrence called, giving her a wave. The large doors in front of them promptly began to open, revealing the outside of the facility and searchlights floating all around, hoping to find some escapees. As soon as the doors were open enough, the group burst through: first Alex, going to take out a few of the straggling soldiers that had reported to the door opening strangely; next was the jeep with the three younger teens in it that barreled past her; and bringing up the rear was Terrence, though he soon slowed to let Alex catch up to him. The duo sped through the broken down gate and followed the trail of dirt left from the jeep.


	2. We're Being Watched!

**Chapter 2: We're Being Watched!**

Judging by his growing migraine, Bolivar Trask believed tonight was going to be a real pain in the ass. Apparently some mutants thought it would be fun to break out of a containment facility, after he and MRD had worked so hard at getting them in there. As he rode down the elevator to the underground section of the laboratory, clad in the cliché white lab coat, Trask began to wonder what steps could be taken to prevent such breakouts other than complete incapacitation. The elevator doors soon disrupted his thoughts, and he stepped out onto the floor and strolled through the hallway. Trask reached a doorway that automatically opened as he neared, and he found himself in the security room (which was actually run by scientists as well).

"Someone want to inform me on just what the hell happened tonight?" he snapped.

"Well, it seems several mutants broke out of the containment facility right outside of Las Vegas. Again…" One of the guards answered.

"_Again?_" Trask repeated. "Isn't the Vegas facility _supposed_ to have maximum security?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Evidently not," he muttered, deeply irritated. "How many escaped?"

"Seven," another guard, a plump man in his forties, spoke up. "Two shapeshifters, one with superhuman strength, two twins with psychic powers, and.. _them_."

"'Them'? What the hell is this, a horror movie?" Trask glared at them both. "Who's 'them'?" On two computer screens came up two files on two mutants, one a male and the other a female. Trask looked at the female first: her bangs unevenly hung in her face and her deep, blue eyes vacantly stared back at him with years of unexpressed anger and untold secrets. Half of the male's face was covered by straight dark brown hair, and his easy smile revealed he possessed wisdom beyond his years. Either that or he had no idea what was going on.

"Alex House. Age: 17; Height: 5' 10"…" the first guard read. "She has the ability to control and manipulate electricity. The other is Terrence Mercer. Age: 17; Height: 6'; he has the ability to rearrange molecular bonds by simply touching an object. Neither of them have anything close to a permanent residence, so there's absolutely no way to tell where they are at any given time."

"They're just kids; they're probably just highly unstable." Trask guessed, unaware he was completely wrong.

"We have extensive files on them. These two were recently added to our Most Wanted list, ever since they all too easily escaped from the Austin facility in Texas two months ago. Ever since, they've been 'checking in' every now and then breaking out whenever they please.

"Oddly enough, both their powers manifested at a very young age, making these two have nearly total control of their powers." The first scientist continued. "They are both very dangerous, and are extremely hard to contain in one place for any length of time."

"How dangerous?" Trask inquired, slightly calmed down.

"They're both considered 4's." The plump guard answered. Trask's expression was one of interest as he walked closer to the computer screens.

"Show me the security footage from both incidents. I want to see these kids." The guards did so, and all three watched the recordings of Alex and Terrence during their escapes from MRD facilities. While Trask's face remained impassive, he was thoroughly impressed by the two young mutant's abilities and how well they were able to use them. When the tapes were through, Trask told them to send the footage and files to his office, and left the room. As he was walking, a passing scientist, who presumably worked for Trask, fell instep with him.

"Dr. Trask,"

"What is it, Dr. Collins?"

"It's about the project, sir."

"Well, what about it?" Trask asked.

"Assembly took considerably less time than originally thought, so we have a working prototype down in Cybernetics. We've gathered all the preliminary data, but I'd like to take it on a trial run so we can collect more data to begin manufacturing improved prototypes."

"A trial run?" He abruptly stopped, a menacing smirk growing on his face after a few seconds of silent thinking. Trask turned back to face the other scientist.

"Pack your bags; we're going to Vegas."

* * *

After escaping MRD's grasp, the two groups went their separate ways: the jeep with the twins and the muscle head turned south, while Terrence and Alex headed north back towards Vegas. Somehow about an hour later Alex randomly remembered that night was the premiere of a new episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (the one set in Las Vegas, go figure), so Terrence was having a rough time trying to keep up with her.

"Alex! Slow down!" For almost eight o'clock at night, there sure was a crap load of traffic on the road, so they had to weave in and out of the cars. "Alex-!"

"We have _thirty_ minutes to get to Vegas, liberate some old lady's TV, and tune it to CBS™! Don't tell me to slow down!" she yelled back at him, narrowly missing a large truck. "Get your ass in gear!" Unbeknownst to the two, traffic was suddenly coming to a complete standstill about a mile and a half down the highway. Alex found out soon enough though, swerving off the road to avoid smashing into the back of a stopped SUV.

"What in the _hell_ is going on?" she impatiently asked, sitting back on the bike and frowning at the standstill traffic as Terrence rolled to a stop next to her.

"You alright?" he ignored her question (as if he really knew what was going on anyway).

"I'm fine," Alex quickly dismissed him, "but whoever's holdin' up traffic isn't about to be."

"Maybe somebody was in an accident," Terrence suggested.

"For their sake I hope they have insurance," Alex growled, and gradually took off toward the source of the congestion. Her friend followed closely behind to make sure she didn't fry anyone with her misplaced irritation. They eventually came to a well-lit area of the road (courtesy of all the combined headlights from the vehicles) and coasted to a stop.

"What in the name…?" Terrence began, staring up at the motionless forty foot robot that stood in the middle of the highway. While its crude design made it look like an overgrown kid's toy from Wal-Mart, there was something about it that made everyone uneasy about it. Maybe it was its towering presence. Maybe it was the way its eyes suddenly began glowing and began scanning the crowd. Its gaze soon fell upon the two teens.

"I think it's taken a liking to us." Alex unnecessarily pointed out. A few seconds passed before the robot turned to face them fully, taking a step towards them.

"Annnnd that's our cue!" Terrence yelled, getting on the road again and speeding off.

"Exit stage left!" she called, mimicking his actions. The robot's gaze followed their diminishing figures, and then began to walk after them, each step it took rocking the earth beneath it.

"Oh, great, who'd you piss off now Alex?" Terrence questioned, glancing over his shoulder in alarm. "FBI? CIA? NSA? Some other three-letter abbreviated federal government group I'm forgetting?"

"Maybe Third Echelon finally got fed up with me failing all those missions; I don't know! Does it really matter right now?" Alex replied. They exchanged a small smile for the reference, but soon Terrence' expression changed to one of complete horror. An explosion went off close to Alex's bike and she went flying off onto the road at 90 miles an hour, bouncing and rolling for what seemed like forever. Alex finally came to a stop in the area next to the road, her body unmoving.

"Alex!" Terrence screamed, quickly making his way over to his injured friend. He ungracefully dismounted his bike and half ran, half fell to her side. "Alex! Come on, talk to me!" Much to his relief, she groaned and lifted her head. _Good. She must have been able to surround her body with electricity before she hit the ground.. _She unsteadily pushed herself to her knees, saying,

"That's it, _now_ I'm pissed." She grumbled as she pulled herself to her feet with Terrence's help.

"Alex, please don't go and do anything crazy," Terrence fearfully advised, earning himself a defiant stare.

"Yeah, because that doesn't sound like me." Alex began clumsily walking towards the advancing opponent.

"No, loving dresses and the color pink doesn't sound like you!" he corrected, sprinting up to her side.

"My sarcasm is dry and hard to pick up sometimes but this is ridiculous.." she muttered to herself. The robot was almost to them, so she held her right fist out behind her and a white bolt of electricity appeared from her knuckles. It formed itself into a long blade and Alex sprinted toward the machine before Terrence could grab her shoulder. It tried to smash her with its fist, but she nimbly evaded the attack and jumped on its arm, running up to its shoulder. The robot reacted quicker than she anticipated, and it knocked her off with a blast from an opening in its palm. Alex flew across the way and into the side of a deserted SUV, deeply and permanently denting it.

"I could use some _help_ here, Terrence!" she angrily called over to him.

"I told you not to do anything crazy!" he stubbornly repeated. Alex stood up, brushed the glass off of her and glared at him.

"Shut the hell up and _help me_!" Terrence sighed and grabbed a handful of grass, transforming it into a large green scythe. He ran head on at their opponent, watching from the corner of his eye as Alex ran at it from the side, probably hoping not to be seen. It attacked the same way, trying to smash its fist down on Terrence's head but like Alex he skillfully dodged it. From the side, Alex bounced from the ground, to its elbow, and flipped over its head to the nape of the neck where wires were exposed.

"This looks important!" Alex said as her electricity-covered hand grabbed a handful of wires and yanked them out. The robot began malfunctioning, unexpectedly whacking Terrence and sending him flying backward, landing him on his back. As if it was waiting till he stood back up, the damaged robot threw Alex from its back by abruptly turning to the side. Somehow she ended up painfully crashing into Terrence.

"Damn, you're heavy!" Terrence complained as he held his head. Alex raised her head from his chest and glared at him again.

"It's called momentum, _genius_. You should have paid attention in Physics." She purposely pushed down on his sore ribcage as she stood up to check on the robot. The taller teen glowered at Alex, but there were more pressing matters to tend to. There'd be time to get her back later.

"I don't think it can see." he observed.

"Probably not. I yanked a good chunk of the wires back there." Alex explained, wiping some blood from a gash in her upper arm. Terrence winced at her wound. "One was bound to be the optics."

"I think I can handle it from here." Terrence assured her, the expression on his face seriously suggesting she pop a squat somewhere. He walked over to his fallen scythe, and as soon as he touched it, it changed into a spear with a long blade. Terrence reared back and then threw the weapon with all his strength; he hit the robot in the middle of its forehead, effectively rendering it defeated. Terrence nodded his satisfaction as it crashed to the ground and turned to walk back over to the resting Alex, but was surprised to find her sitting on his bike (hers was pretty much useless after the crash).

"I told you whoever was holding up traffic was gonna get their ass kicked." Alex told him, glancing at the smoking heap of metal they had just trashed. Terrence gave her a quick smirk as he climbed on the bike and held on to its sides.

"Come on, let's get out of here; the police are bound to show up soon and you know how that goes."

"Questions, questions, questions; ugh, interrogations are evil," Alex said, going from 0 to 60 in about two and a half seconds. Terrence's grip tightened as she accelerated even more.

"No kidding," he agreed, checking behind them to make sure they weren't being followed.

"But more importantly we only have fifteen more minutes till CSI!" she added.

"Oh, yes, because getting arrested and watching a new episode of a TV show are completely equivalent."

Alex laughed at his comment and Terrence couldn't help but grin as they barreled past the city limits sign of Las Vegas.


	3. Gaining Even More Attention!

_A/N: Hmm...alright I'm not going to lie here. I literally forgot I hadn't submitted this chapter. I've been busy working on the **WAY** later chapters of this story. Sad isn't it? I'm such a failure. _T_T_ Well while I'm over here failing and receiving strange looks from my cat, have fun reading this chapter._

_Oh, right, for those of you who read this story before: you're not going crazy. I changed Thomas' name to Terrence, because **someone** felt I needed to._

* * *

**Chapter 3: Gaining Even More Attention!**

Alex and Terrence loved to gamble. Ever since they'd been to Dave & Buster's that one time with their three other friends and had blown through all their money within an hour, they fell in love with it. Granted, the two were kicked out of casinos a lot, since Alex tended to cheat at the slots some kind of way and Terrence was known for unsystematically beating up pimps. Luckily for the teens, sneaking into their favorite casino past the guards only a few days after their escape was unusually simple. For the next three hours, Terrence found himself at a blackjack table and Alex at a poker table, both where they could easily keep watch on the other. They were both in their usual attire, save the black 'CSI' hat Alex wore and the stolen pimp's hat her friend wore.

"Excuse me, sir," Terrence looked up from his hand at the two guards and an apparent floor manager stood. From her seat Alex discreetly glanced up too, knowing this could be a potential problem.

"Can I help y'all?" he asked, assuming a Texas drawl.

"Cut the act, kid," the manager said. "We know it's you." Terrence sighed and twirled calmly around on his stool, resting his arms on the table.

"What gave me away this time?" he asked. "The hat? Or the fact I've been winning for the past thirty hands?"

"Both." He answered. The guards went on either side of him and grabbed an arm to escort him out of the casino. "Where's House?"

"I believe he still lives in Princeton." Terrence answered, earning himself some annoyed glares.

"You know who I mean. Where is she?" he casually glanced over to Alex's table, where her chair was no longer being occupied. _Good, she was able to leave without being noticed_. he thought to himself.

"Would you believe me if I said I didn't know?"

"No."

"I thought not." Terrence sighed again, the small group passing the front desk. They went outside through the front doors, where a handful of police cars waited.

"Aww, all this for lil ol' me? Guys, you shouldn't have…no, seriously, you _shouldn't_ have." The captured teen discreetly searched the area to his right, seeing a silhouette of a person light a cigarette. His expression changed to one of disapproval, but quickly reverted back to his previous one to avoid being noticed.

"Where's the other?" an officer briskly asked the casino manager.

"We don't know. He's not telling."

"Don't you people think I'd tell you if I knew where she was?" He indignantly inquired.

"No." they all answered in unison. Terrence hung his head.

"That's okay. We'll find his little girlfriend." The officer then assured.

"She's not my girlfriend," Terrence clarified.

"Yeah, _right_." One of the guards mocked.

"She's not!"

"You wish she was!"

"I do not!" he sternly argued, beginning to blush. Suddenly several of the cop cars exploded behind them, causing the group of five to recoil. Through the fire and smoke they saw the shadow of a teenage girl leisurely strolled towards them. A cigarette hung out the side of her mouth and Terrence frowned.

"Alex House!" the officer shouted, still rattled by the explosions. "S-stop where you are! Don't come any closer!" She ignored the order and finally stopped at the bottom of the stairs, coolly looking up at her opponents and shoving her hand in her jeans pocket. Alex took a long drag before removing the cigarette from her mouth and holding it between her pointer and middle fingers.

"Stay right where you are!" he repeated. She blew out the smoke and smirked.

"I thought I told you to stop getting caught, Terrence."

"And _I_ thought I told you to stop smoking!" Alex apologetically shrugged. The two guards tightened their hold on Terrence while the officer took up a defensive position in front of them. He slowly pulled his weapon and aimed it down at her. Alex's expression grew grim as she took one last drag and flicked the spent cigarette away. Terrence' heart skipped a beat, becoming afraid for his friend. To avoid a confrontation that might result in Alex getting hurt, Terrence shoved his foot into the officer's back and caused him to fall down the stairs. After he broke an arm free from a guard Alex made her move, shocking that guard and the manager with lightning bolts from her fingers. Terrence punched out the remaining guard to free his other arm.

"Alex!" he called, relieved she was okay. The teen glanced behind her, where distant sirens were closing in on their location. Terrence did the same once he reached the bottom of the long staircase. "Not good! Those are MRD sirens!"

"Then let's scram!" Alex advised, grabbing his wrist and pulling him through the wreckage and into a nearby alleyway.

"I thought you'd agreed to stop smoking, Alex." Terrence reiterated; she glanced back at him briefly.

"Can we talk about this later?"

"Give me a reason why we shouldn't talk about it now." Nearing the end of the alley, the two skidded to a halt, cut off by a dark green MRD van.

"That reason enough for you? Besides, it was just for dramatic effect." they retraced their steps and ran back through a connecting alley to the right. The teens dashed out of the alley and into the street, with Alex taking some keys out of her jacket pocket.

"I want to drive!" he told her.

"Geez, you _really_ pick the wrong times to have arguments."

"If you just agree, then it's not an argument." They rounded a corner.

"Yeah, but you _know_ I'm not going to agree. Especially when I have the keys."

"Well, it's always worth a try," Terrence stated as the two finally reached their motorcycle. Alex quickly threw her leg over the seat and started the bike. Terrence climbed on behind her and put his feet up as soon as she took off. His face discreetly flushed red again; Terrence really had no choice but to slip his arms around her middle this time, since Alex was driving extremely fast to outrun the MRD. While she certainly didn't seem to mind, and well let's face it neither did he, Terrence felt a little uncomfortable holding onto her. Granted, it _was_ the only way to ensure he didn't fly off the bike and crash head-first into a parked car.

"Alex…!" he yelled, looking behind him.

"What?"

"We've got a problem!" Alex swiftly glanced behind her to see the four MRD vans chasing them.

"Hang on!" she deeply leaned to the right and Terrence' hold on her tightened significantly. The turn landed them on an access road and she jumped on the highway. "We gotta leave for a while!"

"But we just got here!" he loudly whined, his hair feeling like it was getting violently pulled out. "Where are we going?"

"Somewhere west!"

"Why west?"

"'Cause I'm wanted in California!" he gave her a weird look, even though Alex couldn't see.

"What in the hell did you do?" Terrence asked, casually checking on their pursuers.

"Remember that Auron figure I have?" Alex felt him nod against her back. "You don't honestly believe I _paid_ for that, do you?" They whizzed past several cars and avoided two of the closest vans trying to sandwich them.

"What? Alex, you _stole_ it?" he cried.

"Well why else do you think the FBI wants to talk to me so badly?"

"I can think of three good reasons.." he muttered to himself. "But seriously Alex, you had to steal it?"

"'Steal' is such a strong word.." the fleeing duo glanced up to their right as a helicopter appeared, prepared to blow them into the middle of next month. It flew next to them over the access road, and to make matters worse the vans were catching up to them again. "Alright, you're getting your wish!"

"We're going to create a civil war and take over the country? _Finally!_"

"No you _baka_, not that one! You're getting to drive!" Alex answered, bringing her left leg up and setting it on the seat. "I'm gonna try somethin'!"

"Alex, whatever it is, don't do it!" Terrence screamed, but his plead fell on deaf ears.

"Ready?"

"No!"

"Now!" Alex's body glowed white a second before she launched herself off the bike, heading towards the helicopter. Shakily flying through the air, she guided herself to the bottom and roughly crashed into the door. It opened and revealed an armed soldier aiming at her; Alex quickly fell backwards to elude being shot, her right hand hanging onto the bar. She swung under the helicopter and narrowly grabbed the other bar, pulling herself up to stand on the bar as the vehicle turned left to follow the curving highway.

"Yeah! I think I got her!" she heard an excited voice shout inside._ 'Great Sherlock, now that you're up here, how __**exactly**__ do you plan to get back down onto a small, fast moving vehicle?'_ Alex asked herself, afraid when she didn't have an answer. Feeling her clothes being ruffled violently and trying her best to quietly keep her balance, she inwardly sighed.

"I have _got_ to stop giving in to these damn impulses." Glancing behind the helicopter she was on, the teen became aware of a local news helicopter coming in fast to catch the ongoing chase. Alex slowly grinned as her brain hatched an idea.

* * *

Xavier's Institute for Higher Learning was an interesting school. While, on the outside it seemed like a regular school, on the inside it was filled with (you guessed it) teenage mutants. Minus this rarely known fact, the commonly named X-Mansion functioned like a regular middle/high school, depending on the needs of its students. The institute was run by one Professor Charles Xavier, who, while a paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair, was one of the world's most powerful telepaths. Currently he was sitting outside enjoying the weather when a man suddenly joined him.

"Ah, Logan," Xavier wheeled around to face him.

"You wanted to talk to me?" The tall, well-built man who looked to be in his thirties said. He stood in front of the professor on the large balcony.

"I would like you to pick up a pair of mutants I've been tracking."

"Tracking where?" he asked, vaguely interested.

"Nevada; specifically in and around the Las Vegas area."

"These two know how to live." Logan commented, a mischievous smirk appearing on his face.

"I don't know about that, but they are both extremely powerful. Especially for their age."

"How old are they?"

"Seventeen." Xavier answered, earning a shrug from him.

"They're young. Probably still learnin' control over their powers."

"I thought so too," he first agreed, "but as I continued to follow them, I realized their powers have almost fully matured."

"While there's no way to tell when their powers manifested, maturation at that young of an age is pretty unusual." Logan stated, walking over to the ledge to lean on the stone rail and gaze out across the yard. "They related?"

"No, they are not related in any way." He folded his hands in his lap. "I would like you to bring them here, so we can meet them and learn more about them. These two are definitely forces to be reckoned with and I would like to talk to them about joining the X-men."

"How powerful we talkin' here, Chuck?"

"One can manipulate electricity with startling precision and the other…well, the other has a very unique ability. Simply by touching an object, he can rearrange its molecular bonds and transform it into a different substance or object." Xavier explained to the tall man, who was obviously intrigued by this time. "According to MRD's numeric standards, they are both 'Level 4' and are considered to be extremely dangerous."

"They're in the MRD database so soon?" He momentarily looked at the man as he guided his wheelchair around to the balcony ledge also. "I didn't think MRD wasn't kickin' that operation into high gear till the end of this year."

"They were detained in Austin two months ago, but within a few days broke out of the facility. More recently they were captured and contained in the Las Vegas facility, which has maximum security."

"And lemme guess," Logan began, "they were still able to break out."

"Yes. And a few hours after their escape on their way back to Las Vegas, they ran into an MRD prototype."

"Prototype of what?" Logan inquired, skeptical.

"A weapon I believe will be used to scout and capture mutants." Xavier said solemnly. "While they were able to dispatch of it fairly easily, I'm certain MRD will improve upon it so it may be widely used against mutants all over the country. Possibly even the world."

"Sounds like these two could prove to be useful in the long run." he concluded, more to himself than Xavier. A few thoughtful seconds passed and Logan briefly glanced over at him before they both glanced up at a white-haired woman who walked out onto the balcony. She was African American and looked to be in her thirties also.

"Storm. Good; I was going to ask you to accompany Logan–"

"I've found them." She interrupted. "They're still in Nevada, but moved to Reno."

"What makes you so sure?" Logan gruffly questioned.

"Come on; you need to see the headlines."


	4. National Media Sucks!

**Chapter 4: National Media Sucks!**

Colonel Moss was a tall, intimidating man. With his cold, dark eyes and sporting an oddly familiar three-clawed scar on the left side of his face, Moss headed the entire Mutant Response Division. Bolivar Trask and all his colleagues answered to Colonel Moss, and he in turn reported to someone higher up in the food chain. At the moment, Moss was going by each section in the main building to see how everything was going. By this time he had made it to the Cybernetics Lab, the one he was most interested in.

"How did the trial run go?" Moss asked his scientist, whose annoyed expression answered his question. "That well, huh? What happened?"

"While I expected my Sentinel to be beaten, I wasn't expecting it to be beaten so _easily_." Moss joined Trask on the observation deck overlooking the repairs of the damaged robot. "The two mutants we sent it after trashed it."

"Which two?" Moss asked calmly.

"The Untouchables." Trask replied, glancing over at him to gauge his reaction.

"Well," he sighed, "there was your first problem."

"I know. They're powerful," the peeved scientist stated.

"Yes, and they were a terrible first choice,"

"They were my _only_ choice," Trask shook his head. "These two kids think that just 'because they're strong mutants that they're indestructible and can run around doing what ever it is they damn well please. They need to understand that they're _not _and they _can't_ and that the laws apply to mutants just as they apply humans."

"And you're just the guy for the job," Moss gave him a small smirk.

"And the fact that they can't be detained or kept locked away is a very big concern of mine."

"As it is one of mine,"

"I figure if we can build a Sentinel strong enough to kill them, then any other mutant we run across won't have a chance."

"The Sentinel Project is not a program whose goal is to _kill_ mutants. Its purpose is to merely remove them from the streets and contain them so they can't hurt anyone." Moss sternly reminded him. Trask turned to face him fully, leaning on the railing and crossing his arms over chest.

"Have you seen these two? I mean, seriously seen them? They're only seventeen but they pose an enormous threat to MRD. To us. To _humanity_."

"I've seen the footage of their escapes from our facilities, and I've read both their files. I'm _well_ aware of the threat they pose."

"They're too strong for their own good." He continued. "If we can't get them to join us, we'll just have to figure out a way to get rid of them."

"I've got that taken care of; I've done some of my own side research on these two's backgrounds. Both are rather interesting," Moss' smile was ominous, "but there's one event in Terrence's past that I think I can use to tear them apart."

"Which is?" Trask inquired, interested in his boss' plan.

"When he was nine years old-"

"Colonel!" the two glanced at the woman who ran up behind Moss.

"What is it?" he questioned.

"Sir, you should come see this! It's about those two teens! They're on the news!" Both Moss and Trask's expressions revealed their shock and confusion; forgetting about the Sentinel for the time being, they followed the soldier out of the lab and to a TV in the lounge. "This was aired just a few minutes ago."

The video on the screen was of a high speed chase on a highway in Reno. The camera focused in on the various MRD vans chasing the culprit, and then on the helicopter following close behind the action.

"…**15 News is here live, following MRD's latest efforts to clean up the streets of Reno and its surrounding area." **The reporter was saying, pointing out the open door of the helicopter. **"Here we have the two mutants on the run; our sources have reason to believe these two are the infamous 'Untouchables' Alex House and Terrence Mercer. The two have recently been added to MRD's Most Wanted list and as such are considered very dangerous if provoked."**

"You have no idea how much of an understatement 'very' is," Trask muttered. The scene switched to a couple minutes later, with the reporter yelling at the cameraman to get a shot of the MRD helicopter.

"**Did you get that? Tell me you got that!"**

"**I got it, I got it! But I don't know where she went," **the cameraman mentioned.

"**Ladies and gentlemen, Alex just launched herself up to the helicopter!"** Moss was stunned. **"But we..we can't tell where she went."**

"That's not a good sign," he said slowly. Trask merely frowned.

"Just because they can't see her doesn't mean she's not there," he replied. The reporter told the pilot to fly along side of the other helicopter, when he shouted something back at him.

"**There! There! There!" **he shouted; the cameraman pointed the camera at the side of the helicopter, where Alex stood with her back to the door. **"We've found her! Ladies and gentlemen, this – this is amazing: it seems she flipped **_**under**_** the helicopter after she leaped onto it!"**

Alex frowned, apparently thinking to herself, and then noticed their helicopter.

"**She sees us!" **the reporter stated, albeit almost frightened.

"**Why is she smiling at us?"** the cameraman slowly asked. It was true: Alex had begun mischievously smiling at them after taking note of their presence. She then hit on the door several times and promptly moved toward the tail of the helicopter as much as she could.

"**What the hell is she doing..?"** the correspondent rhetorically asked his partner. As Alex thought, the soldier inside had started firing through the door. The two men instinctively reared back from the sudden noise. When he stopped, just as Alex planned, he slid open the door.

"That's a bad idea," As soon as Moss finished, Alex grabbed the muzzle of the gun and pulled it down to where he couldn't shoot her, and elbowed the soldier in the stomach in one quick, fluid motion.

"**Holy s(expletive)t..!" **the cameraman cried out. Alex jumped up, breaking the poor guy's nose with her fist and pushing him back inside the helicopter. **"She just f(expletive)king took out that soldier in two seconds flat!" **

"**Hey, uh, who's the journalist here?" **the man irately whispered to his partner. Returning their attention to the task at hand, the hijacked helicopter suddenly moved closer and lowered itself to the highway, next to where Terrence was still trying to escape the vans. Their camera concentrated on him, showing an evident conversation he was having with someone inside the MRD helicopter. Well, more like an evident _argument_ he was having with someone inside the helicopter.

"What is he saying?" Trask asked.

"All I got was 'what the hell are you doing' and 'you're gonna get us both killed'."

"If only," he scoffed.

* * *

Back in Reno, we find our two heroes…arguing. Again.

"Alex, you hijacked the helicopter!"

"Yeah, what else was I going to do up here?" she asked as she hung out of the door. "Get to the point!"

"It's unethical!"

"Since when the hell did we start evaluating the moral values of any given situation?"

"Since MRD hired better drivers!" Alex glanced back at the persistent group of MRD vans chasing them.

"Come on so we can get outta here!" she told him, leaning out and reaching for him. Terrence moved the bike closer to her before grabbing Alex's hand and climbing on board. The motorcycle fell on its side and spun out of control, causing the vans to stop to avoid a deadly collision. Alex then occupied herself by going back to threaten the already frightened pilot, and Terrence asked,

"What's the plan, Alex?"

"We're flyin' this bad boy outta here!"

"That's your big, ingenious plan?" he said, unimpressed.

"Well, _we're_ not flying it. You are."

"Oh tha- whoa wait a second, me?" he cried. "Why me? Why can't he do it? I'd say he's doing a damn good job!"

"'Cause we're kickin' him and his friend," referring to the unconscious soldier next to Terrence, "off the Loony Express ASAP."

"But why?"

"We don't need any more mouths to feed," she explained, motioning to him, "Hell, yours counts as like seven already."

"Oh, shut up," Terrence told her as she gave the pilot orders. He felt the helicopter pull up and away from the highway, and soon found they had flown up next to the news helicopter.

"Hi fellas!" he waved happily through the open doors.

"Terrence Mercer?" the reporter and cameraman said simultaneously. Terrence continued to grin at them until Alex came to stand next to him.

"Hey guys!" she greeted politely. By this time the two men's eyes were as large as baseballs. "Can we ask a favor of you two?"

"Uhh..." the reporter muttered. "S-sure.."

"We've got two guys here that would _really_ love to get out of our company," Alex began.

"Looks like you guys have a lot of room over there. A lot more than we do." Terrence falsely observed. "Mind haulin' two more guys with you?"

"No, n-not at all," he replied, his mind quickly working, "but could we – I ask a favor of you two, then?"

"Depends," they answered.

"While you're – we're working, could I interview you? No one's ever interviewed either of you and it would be an honor."

"Be my guest," Alex said.

"_Our_ guest," Terrence corrected her, who rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath.

"Excellent!" he exclaimed, telling his cameraman to start filming. The two teens went to grab the unconscious soldier first. "So, how do you like the media's name for you: 'The Untouchables'?"

"I don't know; I guess it sounds cool," Alex replied, "although it reminds me of that movie 'The Untouchables'. Y'know, with Kevin Costner?"

"Yes, I vaguely recall the movie. What-"

"I've never seen that movie." Terrence mentioned as they carried the soldier and expertly tossed him from helicopter to helicopter. He flew over and landed roughly behind the two men, smacking face-first straight into the door.

"Really? Well, you're not really missing anything, but it's an okay movie." She said, winking at her friend. "It keeps you entertained enough so you don't have to, y'know, play video games or go _kill_ someone 'cause you're so _insanely_ bored."

"Umm…" the correspondent nervously glanced at his partner, causing Terrence and Alex to share a small smile, "next question: how do you feel about being two of MRD's most sought after mutants?"

"It keeps life interesting, you could say," Terrence answered, leaning against the door and acting like he was really thinking hard for the right response. "I mean, I don't know about Alex, but me personally? I'm flattered."

"Come on pal, move it or lose it!" they heard Alex talk to the pilot in the background.

"MRD's trying a lot harder to catch us than the local Las Vegas and Reno law enforcement was, but then again MRD is outfitted for chasing down and capturing and just in general dealing with mutants. And I, uh, I certainly commend them for their efforts in trying to and succeeding a few times in catching us. On a side note, the LV Crime Lab has some _great_ people in it, right Alex?"

"Oh, yeah! I love - oh what's his name? Grissom! Gil Grissom." Alex walked back into the camera's view, grinning widely and holding the pilot by the back collar of his shirt; she then kicked him to their helicopter.

"He's too cool of a guy to be working for law enforcement." While the pilot landed on the bar, the two men took a moment to postpone the interview to help to frightened guy up. Alex crouched down to be seen directly in the camera.

"Hey, Gris! Come over to the dark side!" she rubbed the back of her head and glanced away, muttering something about 'Palpatine' and 'Anakin,' before smiling back into the camera. "While we don't necessarily have cookies, we _do_ have five seasons of House on DVD!"

"Technically we have seven, Alex."

"_Technically_," Alex said, holding up a finger, "we have all five seasons and two copies of one and three of those five seasons, and one copy of the other three, so we do not, in fact, have seven seasons of House, but only said five. Plus one digital copy of the two-part episode of Season six."

"God, that was totally confusing," Terrence answered, smirking down at his friend, "but somehow made perfect sense."

"See Gris? You'd love hanging out with us." Alex said into the camera. The newsmen had finished helping the pilot onto the copter and continued the interview.

"So what do you think of MRD, Alex?" she gave him a half laugh.

"What's there for me to say about the all high and mighty Mutant Response Division? They're a bunch of morons, for the simple fact that they're trying to capture the millions of mutants in this country." She paused for a moment. "Oh, and their 'maximum security' facilities, as they like to call them, are a complete joke. They try their best to keep me and Terrence contained, and yet here we are free as a bird. No pun intended."

"What's this?" Terrence asked Alex when she handed him a thick booklet after her reply.

"The owner's manual," Alex patted him on the shoulder, "and I'm sorry to say it's not the series of mini-games or 'Insert Tab A into Slot B' kind of piloting."

"Damn," he dejectedly sighed, walking back to the cockpit. "You better hope it's easy or we're gonna end up–"

"What? Sharin' a room with Chi*?" She half turned away from the camera to talk to her friend. "Hey, at least I'll enjoy the stay. Granted I probably won't get to meet the rest of the band, but you get my drift."

"At least we'll be alive?"

"Always the optimist, Terrence," she laughed.

"Um, one more quick question before you go! Please!" Alex turned to face them again signifying for him to ask.

"Everyone is dying to know: is it true that you two are lovers?"

"_WHAT?_" they shouted together in pure shock.

"You're always together, and I mean _always_, and most of our viewers believe you're in a romantic, if not sexual, relationship." The correspondent explained. Alex's expression changed to display her bewilderment and disbelief, and the still-shocked Terrence's mouth fell open at the mention of them being **that** intimate.

"Your viewers are a bunch of idiots," she coarsely stated once she had regained her composure, stepping back and grabbing the door handle.

"Alex? W-wai-"

"Interview's over. Follow us, and I'll take great pleasure in frying your asses." Alex slammed the door shut and turned her back to the camera; Terrence promptly guided the helicopter away and the Channel 15 News chopper was left by itself.

* * *

_*A/N: Just FYI: for those of you who don't know, Chi Cheng is a member (bassist) of a band called Deftones, and he was seriously injured in an automobile accident in Santa Clara, CA on November 4, 2008. He fell into a coma following the accident, and is still currently in the same state. While my reference to him may be poking fun at, I guess, sharing a hospital room with him, as a huge fan of the band my heart goes out to the other members of Deftones, along with Chi's family and friends._


	5. Things Start Heating Up!

**Chapter 5: Things Start Heating Up!**

After watching the segment on the news, Trask and Moss went back to work: the former returned to the Cybernetics lab to work on the Sentinel Mark II, while the latter went to his office to review Alex and Terrence's files. Moss had absolutely no idea where the duo was headed, but maybe there was a clue hidden in the hefty stacks on papers on them. Around an hour later while still sitting in his office, he was joined by the man he reported to.

"Senator Kelly," he said.

"Colonel Moss." the senator replied, being followed by another man Moss recognized as Warren Worthington, Sr. "How are things coming along?"

"We have a working prototype of the Sentinel, and Bolivar has already sent it on a test run."

"And how did that go?" Warren asked. Moss shrugged.

"It was destroyed. Rather easily I might add," he answered, leaning back in his chair and folding his hands in his lap.

"You don't seem that worried about it," Kelly mentioned, giving him a disapproving look-over. "You know how many millions of dollars this cost–"

"Well aware, but he sent it after House and Mercer; there's nothing to be worried about. They were going to destroy _anything_ we sent after them, whether it be a Sentinel or Edward the janitor who wears his pants too high."

"Where have I heard those names before?"

"Edward?"

"No, no, the other two."

"Wait, are you talking about the same House and Mercer that can't be captured by MRD?" Warren half answered the senator.

"_Them_? Why the hell would he send an early version of a prototype after.._them_?"

"I don't know, sir," Moss shrugged again, "but they're a well-talked about topic around here."

"They're a well-talked about topic everywhere; every other fucking headline has to do with them. They're perceived as heroes to mutants across the nation."

* * *

"Great job, genius," Alex acerbically congratulated her friend. They were inconspicuously walking away from another burning heap of rubble in the middle of a field.

"Don't start," Terrence warned her.

"Seriously, how do you crash a helicopter when there's not even a cloud in the sky?"

"God, Alex, I _told_ you: it was a _bird! _And it's dark!"

"How the hell does a bird get stuck in the damn rotor?"

"I don't know!" he answered, just as irate, "But apparently it does." Terrence continued, gesturing behind him at the helicopter.

"Dude, we weren't flying a 747–"

"We? _I_ was the one flying!" Alex gave him a sarcastic laugh.

"Ex_cuse_ me, Wilbur Wright. I hadn't realized you'd been reincarnated as a seventeen-year-old jackass!"

"Better than being a seventeen-year-old bitch!" Terrence countered, easily matching her unwavering glare. The duo continued walking but persistently stared each other down, both in a sour mood.

* * *

"They're both a serious threat to our operation." Warren pitched in.

"They're too strong for their own good," Kelly began, but stopped when Moss held up his hands.

"Please. I've already heard that speech today and once is plenty." Kelly gave him an odd look, but fell quiet nonetheless.

"Does anyone have a course of action in regards to the two?" Warren asked.

"He is suggesting, or at least thinking, that if we were to manufacture Sentinels powerful enough to defeat or kill Alex and Terrence–"

"We'd have a complete uprising of mutants. There goes the neighborhood."

"That's a fucking understatement," Kelly added angrily. "Why don't you just paint bull's-eyes on our foreheads Moss? Yours included."

"You'll notice, _sir_," the exasperated Moss tried politely, "that I did not express my nor any other approval of his _suggestion_. I find it extremely irrational and impulsive; it'll create more problems than it'll solve."

"So what do you _propose_ we do, since you obviously have an ingenious plan like your number one scientist?" the senator indignantly inquired, crossing his arms. Moss lightly glared up at his boss before sitting forward and sifting through the files sprawled out on his desk.

"Alex and Terrence were last seen headed east out of Reno via a hijacked helicopter." He began, finding the file he was searching for and handing it to his boss. "The only residence we could link to either of them, in this case to Terrence, is an address in Massachusetts. An old man lives there, by himself, and I'm convinced that's where they're headed.

"They're not going to just go anywhere," he continued, "these two are _sophisticated_."

* * *

Alex cried out as she jumped on Terrence's shoulders, wrapping her arms tightly around his eyes and trying to make him lose his balance. He grunted in annoyance, twirling around several times trying to reach her; Alex impishly laughed but the teen eventually succeeding in throw her off. Terrence then jumped on her and held her wrists to where she couldn't move. He smirked as he leaned rather close to her face, saying,

"I'm glad we have an agreement, 'cause otherwise I would be a terrible person,"

"You _are_ a terrible person," Alex stated, trying to free her hands. Her head plopped back down on the ground in frustration and she looked up at him again.

"Now Alex, is that any way to talk to the guy who's got you pinned to the ground?"

"I'll show you pinned to the ground!" she said, quickly lifting her head up and biting his shoulder. Alex was careful not to draw blood, but the distraction of pain was enough to allow her to roll Terrence off of her. She jumped up, bouncing on the balls of her feet energetically.

"Come on, pal, you gotta do better than that,"

"If you say so, Alex!" Terrence jumped to his feet and bolted away from her through the trees and vaulting over a line of bushes.

"Hey!" she called, dashing after him. The chase went on until the teens hit a parking lot, at which point Alex caught up to him: she jumped on his back again, this time causing him to fall flat on his face. She pulled his right arm behind him in play-torture.

"Alright, alright, I give!" Terrence yelled. "Alex, I give!"

"That's what I thought," she pushed off of him and glanced at the sign above their heads.

"Jesus, who'd you learn to fake torture people from? Chuck Norris?" the male scolded, working the knot out of his sore shoulder.

"CIA; if it was Chuck Norris you'd be dead." Alex bleakly stated, looking inside the store before them. Terrence put his hand on her chin to turn her head towards him. She stared at him, trying her best to hide her reddening cheeks.

"I could literally strangle you right now." He told her tenderly with a warm smile. Despite her uneasiness, Alex threw him a disbelieving smirk.

"Like you even could; I could _easily_ kick your ass in a real fight." She walked away and, after scoping the place out, let herself into the closed shopping mall. Terrence frowned and cursed himself for letting her walk away; he sighed and followed her inside.

* * *

"Sophisticated or not, what makes you so sure?"

"For a number of years before meeting Alex, Terrence stayed with this man. We also have reason to believe this guy's a mutant, though we don't have any concrete evidence to support it."

"So we're banking our actions on your logical intuition?" Kelly retorted.

"Look," Moss irately handed a small stack of papers to Warren, who flipped through them vaguely. Each one was a mugshot of either Terrence or Alex, each with a different state stamped on it. "Massachusetts is one of the _very_ short list of states they _aren't_ wanted in, either by state police or MRD divisions, so it's almost like a safe haven for them whenever things become too much to deal with."

"So the plan is...?" he led on.

"It's quite simple really: we'll use-"

"Sir!" the same soldier who interrupted him earlier barged in, earning her three annoyed glares.

"What the hell could it possibly be _now_, Private Goss, that you had to interrupt my meeting?"

"We've had a sighting of the helicopter!"

"Care to enlighten us where they found it?" Kelly not-so-gently pushed.

"It's in Massachusetts!" Moss smirked up at his boss, who glanced at Warren and then at him. Warren put the files back on the desk.

"Looks like you were right," he subtly applauded.

"Well, they found the remains at least.." she muttered.

"Remains?" Warren repeated.

"It crashed."

"Yes, obviously. We gathered that." Moss stated. "How?"

"They're still investigating, but I remember they said something about finding a large bird nearby." He shook his head once before standing up behind his desk.

"Go find Dr. Trask and tell him I need him." The private left and Moss addressed the two men. "I'm taking him with me. We're going to Massachusetts; hopefully my plan will work."

"Keep me posted." Kelly gave Moss a wary glance before turning to leave his office.

* * *

"What the hell do you mean they don't have a Large?" Alex angrily yelled in the quiet mall, throwing the awesome-looking-but-too-small-to-fit-her hoodie back behind her. Terrence, annoyed with her complaining, turned around to yell back.

"It's a _mall_, Alex; they _do_ sell out of certain things every once in a while." He griped, browsing through the t-shirts.

"We've been in here for _hours_ and I haven't found a _single_ garment in my size!"

"What can I say, you have a fat ass." Alex stared irritably at him.

"Shut up _Wilbur._ Besides, what does my ass have to do with my hoodie size?" Terrence stopped smiling and returned the stare. Suddenly the duo heard a door open and close and someone call something into the mall; they glanced at each other before they quietly dashed out of sight with their "purchases" and to a darker area.

"I thought you checked this place for security," he whispered accusingly. Alex looked up at him incredulously.

"I thought _you_ checked for security," Terrence sighed in frustration.

"You know the drill, Alex! I grab the guns, you grab the knives; I kick out the managers, you check for security."

"When the hell was that clause added?" she inquired, confused. Interrupting the two's discussion came a voice,

"Terrence Mercer? Alex House?" they stared at each other in surprise.

"_How does this guy know our names?" _Alex mouthed. Terrence shook his head and elaborately shrugged, completely perplexed.

"_Here's what we do.."_ Terrence made a bunch of silent hand signals motions to his eyes, to her, and to random parts of the building. Alex stared at him for a moment after he stopped and waited for a confirmation of her understanding.

"What in the _hell_ does that even mean?" she asked, accidentally whispering loudly.

"Alex?" Terrence glared at her and hit the back of her head. She pushed his shoulder in retaliation; the two almost began fighting again but stopped with they heard footsteps becoming increasingly louder with each step. The voice called again.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" Alex questioned, giving Terrence an annoyed glance.

"My name's not important but I just want to talk to you."

"About what?"

"You."

"Me?"

"And you."

"You who?" she said.

"Yoohoo!" Terrence added with a smirk. Alex roughly swatted his arm.

"Shut up,"

"Ow.." he whined, rubbing his arm.

"Would you mind talking to me face-to-face?"

"Depends: what's your face look like?"

"Alex, be nice!" Terrence reprimanded quietly, standing up and cautiously walking out from the hiding spot. What he saw was a tall intimidating man, wearing dark-colored jeans and a black windbreaker.

"Ah, Terrence, you look just like your picture," the mysterious man said, rubbing Alex the wrong way already. She quickly moved to her friend's side.

"Who sent you?" Alex not-so-nicely demanded.

"No one," he sighed, "People call me Moss; I'm a scientist from a coalition of humans and m–"

"I've heard that line more than once, pal," she stated flatly, "save me the bullshit."

"Give him a chance; I'm sure what he's saying is true–" Terrence tried.

"I didn't say it was a lie." Alex glared at Moss. "I said it was bullshit."

"It's not; I–I wholeheartedly believe mutants aren't so different from humans." Moss seemed slightly nervous as he switched his unwavering gaze between the two teens. "People don't choose to be mutants. You didn't choose to be mutants. You were born with genetic... anomalies that affected one or more areas of your being and granted you extraordinary gifts..."

"I don't like this guy," Alex muttered under her breath.

"Let's at least listen to what he's got to say," Terrence suggested. Moss flashed a sheepish smile.

"I came to find you to ask if you'd join our coalition? It'd be great for our purpose of showing the world that mutants and humans can coexist peacefully." Moss watched the teens deliberate.

"I've heard enough, let's go," she persisted, grabbing his arm. Terrence pulled his arm away, causing her to stare at him. "What gives?"

"I'm not leaving."

"What? Why not?"

"I like this guy." Alex glared at him.

"You don't like anybody."

"I like _you_," he exasperatedly retorted, hoping she didn't catch the double meaning of the statement. The two merely stared at each other while Moss smirked knowingly to himself.

_I've got them right where I want them._


	6. Clash of the Hot Tempered Teens!

_**A/N:** Hmm. Guess I forgot my warning. Imagine that. Well, there's some coarse language as the chapter goes on, mainly with Alex and Terrence. So, watch out. By the way, thanks for the reviews. They make me smile.  
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**Chapter 6: Clash of the Hot-Tempered Teens!**

Back at Xavier's mansion, Logan walked through the halls of the lower level of the school. Class was about to start for the students, and truth be told he had nothing better to do than roam around the school although he did want to talk to Xavier. Just his luck he ran into Storm instead of the professor, but Logan would have to make due for now.

"Hey Logan,"

"Charles say anything more about those two Vegas kids?"

"No, not since we saw them heading out of Reno."

"Well how the hell does he expect me to go pick 'em up if he doesn't know where they are?"

"I don't." the instructors turned around to see the professor behind them. "I expect you to wait until I know their location, and then go get them."

"What's wrong with you?" Logan asked candidly.

"We have a problem."

"Are the kids alright?" Storm automatically questioned.

"For now. But I don't think things are going to stay that way."

"What makes you say that?"

"Right now they're at a department store in Massachusetts." He informed. "A man is with them and claims to be from a coalition of mutants and humans, but his intentions are ill."

"So the guy's a pedophile. How is that remotely important or relevant?"

"Logan, he's got them butting heads. They're already irritated with one another. Soon, I think one of them is going to snap and attack the other."

"But, for as powerful as they are…" Storm began, a fearful expression on her face.

"Exactly." Xavier followed her. "I need you two there, now, before things get out of hand."

* * *

After arguing amongst themselves for a minute, Alex and Terrence were metaphorically at each other's throats. Alex was adamant about not going with Moss, while Terrence wanted to trust the guy. They were both trying to convince the other of their point of view, but all they succeeded in was making each other angrier.

"I'll come with you."

"Hey, whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, _hang_ on!" Alex stepped in front of her friend, looking him hard in the eye. "Wha – you're actually _believing_ this nutcase?"

"He just wants to promote mutant and human coexistence, and I'm _going_ with him."

"He's lying!" she shouted.

"No, he's not!"

"How do you know that? I mean, really?" Alex got close to Terrence. "How do you know this guy won't take you God knows where and do God knows what to you?"

"Get out of my face."

"A few crafty sentences and you automatically trust this bastard? In what universe does that make any damn sense?"

"Get the hell out of my face, Alex!"

"Or what?" She dared, small bolts of lightning appearing around her right arm and cackling as it moved. "Come on Terrence. Hit me. You _know_ you want to."

"I-if I may, just interject something–"

"No! Shut up!" She angrily shot a thunderbolt from her palm, barely missing the man's head. Suddenly Terrence's hand was on her wrist, bringing it down.

"Cut it out." He told her with authority. Alex fiercely glared at him, pulling her arm back.

"So you're choosing him over me." Terrence remained silent, his expression a mixture of anger and uncertainty. Moss also stayed quiet, for fear the next attack shot at him would have better aim.

"Alex, pull your head out of your ass." he finally said, "Why can't you just get past your stupid insecurities and trust people?"

"You have no idea what he plans to do with you!"

"Neither do you!" Terrence snapped. Alex screamed in frustration.

"You stupid fucking IDIOT!" The colonel had to step back a few feet, surprised at the amount of energy radiating from the teen: the electricity had spread to her other arm and looked as if it were barely being contained. Soon, electric whip-like projections came from her tightly-balled fists. Alex quickly lunged at Terrence, catching him off guard and knocking him into a nearby couch. A few seconds passed and Terrence didn't move, so she turned her back to him.

"Pathetic." Alex muttered as she began to stalk toward Moss. The weapons retracted and she relaxed her hands. Suddenly, something told her to turn around; she did so and found herself face to face with a giant spiked ball. Alex jumped out of the way, the attack narrowly missing her. Moss wasn't as fast, so he fell flat on his face to avoid being crushed to death.

"Shit..." he grunted as he slowly lifted his head to view the newly refurbished wall behind him.

"This might've been a mistake.." Moss told himself as he came to a kneeling position; out of the smoke surrounding the spiked ball's impact area he saw several white discs head straight toward Terrence. He skillfully dodged each one; then, he grabbed a close floor lamp and threw it at the now visible Alex, who was continually sending electric discs his way. The lamp turned into a steel net and pinned her rather uncomfortably to a recliner chair.

"Let me out of this damn thing!"

"Not until your ass calms down!" Terrence stood his ground.

"I'm not gonna calm down!" Alex told him, her words stinging with acid. She sent a current of electricity through the net and freed herself. Standing up, she glared at Terrence. "Not until you come to your damn senses!"

"Contrary to your cynical view of the world not everyone is bad. God, Alex, for _once_ in your life, trust someone other than yourself!"

"No." The simple answer made Terrence shudder. Alex flattened her hands, electricity flowing down her palms to her fingertips and extending out to create dual swords.

"The only way you're going with him is in a body bag."

"Are you _serious_?" he asked incredulously, laughing at the absurdity. "You'd rather _kill _me than let me go with him?"

"Damn right I would." Alex nodded. "He's bad news. You're not going with him without going through me first."

"Is that so?" Terrence said, beyond infuriated with his friend. "You've become an obstacle in my way; I'll just have to move you."

"I'd like to see you try." She challenged. He reached into his pocket and brought out some loose change. It transformed into a large katana. Terrence rested the sword on his shoulder and gave Alex a dark grin.

"Care to dance, little lady?"

"But, of course; I'll lead." Alex ran forward and attacked, methodically slicing back and forth. Terrence blocked and countered each swing with one of his own. The two were surprisingly adept to using a blade and were quite skilled. Neither had landed a blow on the other; couldn't say the same for the furniture around them that were getting ripped to shreds. Of the two fighters, Alex seemed to have the upper hand until one of Terrence's blows hit home. Alex flew backward and landed heavily on a glass table. He began to run over but abruptly stopped when Alex bounced up, shadow covering her face and blood dripping from an apparent head wound.

Terrence rushed over and took advantage of her disorientation, grabbing a piece of the table and making spikes appear from it. Alex sluggishly dodged the attack, but several spikes grazed her legs. She brushed the pain off and readied her next attack: her hands and feet were surrounded by electricity and, instead of discs, Alex threw wide, boomerang-shaped blasts at Terrence, who proceeded to elude each one. Two of them sliced him, causing blood to fall to the ground beneath him and onto his shirt. He recovered hastily, though, crouching down to touch the rug that ran between him and his opponent. At the end nearest Alex, two large tentacles sprouted up from the rug, intent on trapping her. Alex knew she didn't have enough time to move and escape their grasp, so she planted her feet and emitted a powerful shockwave from her body.

Chairs, sofas, tables, and pretty much anything else that wasn't nailed down flew violently away from Alex. Terrence was darting around trying to avoid being crushed by the airborne furniture, but as he glanced behind him a child-sized recliner hit him in the face. He fell to the ground, blood flowing from a freshly broken nose. Having seen this event taking place, Alex felt no rush in making her way over to the prone Terrence. She took a few steps and electricity came out of her palms that were pointed to the floor; unhesitatingly her feet left the ground and Alex floated through the disarrayed room.

She gently touched down next to Terrence, who was in fact still conscious and quietly groaning to himself. The teen crouched over him, one foot on each side of his body, and leaned her face relatively close to his. Terrence opened his eyes and stared at her as she slowly grinned.

"You're a terrible dancer." Alex stated.

"My aunt always told me I had two left feet.." he tried to lighten the mood for himself. Her grin disappeared.

"You're not funny."

"She told me that too."

"See, had you just simply agreed not to go with Moss, blood wouldn't be flowing from your nose like a lost cousin of the Nile River," she began, slowly raising her left hand as it began to pulse with electricity, "nor would I have to do this."

Terrence's eyes widened as she finished her statement. Just as Alex was about to deliver the final blow, Terrence reached out and grabbed a piece of her hair, turning it into a lightning rod. As the electricity was discharged from her hand, it was pulled toward the rod and safely away from his face. Once Alex had realized what happened, she turned her attention to the random lightning rod that was once her hair with a surprised but confused expression. Terrence took to opportunity to kick her off and jump back up. Indignant, Alex sat up and cut the lightning rod out of her hair. Her feet began to glow white with electricity again, and she torpedoed forward toward Terrence, knocking into him and launching both of them through a wall.

Expecting to hit the ground, Alex allowed them to freefall. And freefall they did; little did either of them know this particular wall led to the open area of the department store where the escalators were located. The two crashed into the nearest elevator, with Alex flying across over to the other one and both crashes sending glass everywhere. They both fell onto a below the escalators, and neither moved after the landing.

* * *

Back on the upper lever, Moss hurried to the gaping hole the teens created in the wall and glanced down. Terrence lay on his back while Alex lay on her side, glass from the broken elevator guard rails covering both of the unconscious teens. He resisted the strong urge to sigh; this wasn't supposed to happen. The colonel hadn't planned on them tearing the place to shit. Looking behind him, he surveyed the damage in an almost silent admiration. To be that young and have so much power must be exhilarating. The two mutants were much more powerful than Moss had anticipated and he cursed himself for not being more prepared. He took his radio out of his pocket, pressing the side button to speak into it.

"Where are you?" he asked into the radio.

_"Not far from your location. Did you find them?"_

"That's a damn understatement. They're unconscious right now, but I doubt that will last." He glanced back down at the two; they hadn't moved. "How far are you?"

_"Two minutes."_

"Do you have the inhibitors?"

_"Yes, _Mother_, I have them."_

"Meet me here ASAP so we can get them on before they come to. Both are extremely pissed right now, especially Alex, and Kelly doesn't want this screwed up."

_"I hear you loud and clear. See you in a second."_

Moss put away his radio and searched for a more conventional way of getting to the lower floor. After checking around a few corners, he found the door that lead to the stairwell and traveled down the several flights of stairs before he reached another door. Moss pushed open the door and immediately paused; Terrence had begun to come to. A split second following him, Alex stirred and, although both teens were disoriented and barely conscious, Moss was becoming apprehensive. Glass fell off of their clothes as they moved around and soon after looking around they realized where they had landed:

in the lingerie department. Specifically, on a table lined with underwear.

After a moment of puzzlement, Terrence took a pair of underwear that Alex had landed on, made a cocoon around her and launched the entire thing across the room.

"Damn..." Moss breathed. He looked to where the cocoon landed. _When she comes out of that thing, she's going to be up and ready to fight again. There's no way I'm going to get an inhibitor on her._ he thought, his eyebrows scrunching together. _Shit, shit, shit__, what am I gonna do?_

Inside the cocoon, Alex was now fully awake . Observing the lining of the cocoon, she smirked to herself.

"Well, at least he chose nylon." She commented before she sliced through the cocoon and stepped out. The blade diminished and Alex stood staring at Terrence, deciding on what was the best course of action. The katana Terrence had used was up on the upper level, which meant he had no offensive weapon. She took a moment to glance behind him at Moss, whose jacket had been unzipped to the point where Alex could vaguely see a radio holstered on his hip.

_Time to get rid of you._ she thought. Alex spread out her arms and sent a small shockwave from them, effectively moving the populous racks of random bras away from her. Terrence visibly tensed, unsure of what Alex was about to do. She began to twirl her arms as it she were doing a backstroke, then began to turn her body around slowly also. The two males were confused as hell until Alex suddenly turned back to face them, her arms stretched out in front of her and a large lightning bolt coming from her fists. Moss quickly stepped back inside the stairwell and threw the door shut. Terrence watched the attack explode as it came in contact with the door; Moss was trapped in there, probably seriously wounded or worse, dead. When he returned his attention to Alex, he realized she was about to attack again and frantically searched looked for some sort of weapon to use. As Terrence searched, the floor immediately surrounding Alex began to glow like an aura up and around her, as did her hands and feet. She then leapt up sideways into the air, her head leveled horizontally with her feet; Alex flipped once and came down to land with her energy centralized in her right heel.

The second her heel touched the ground, a humongous vertical wave of electricity materialized and headed straight for Terrence, who was frozen to his spot out of fear. He raised a small defense out of the carpet as a means of deflecting Alex's attack.

It didn't work.

The defense was decimated by the wave, but it at least stopped it from outright killing Terrence. The impact did send him flying up and backward, crashing through more clothes racks. Alex, exhausted from her last attacks, struggled to stand upright and slowly shuffled over to Terrence. When she arrived to where she believed he'd landed, he was no where to be found. Alex glanced around the rest of the store, but she couldn't find him. A moment later, she heard movement behind her; she peeked behind her only to find it was none other than Terrence.

"Alex, look," Terrence's irate gaze met hers. "You probably _killed _Moss. He was only trying to get us to join his coalition. I can't forgive you for that."

"Does it look like I'm asking for your fucking forgiveness?" she snapped. Terrence's eyes flickered to hers at the sudden hostility.

"Hey, listen here–"

"I don't _need_ your forgiveness. I've got nothing to be sorry for. I'm only trying to protect you, and the only way I'm gonna stop is if I'm _dead_." The two stared at each other for a long time before they began to tussle again. After a while, the rubble where the entrance to the stairwell once was began to rustle.

"He...Moss is alive?" he asked, skeptical but hopeful. Having held Alex at bay for the moment Terrence heard her grunt in disappointment when she bit into his shoulder.

"It's me or him, Terrence. Make your choice." The next seconds had to be the longest and most agonizing for the two mutants, especially Terrence; the silence covered them like a thick blanket. Ultimately, Terrence shoved Alex away from him.

"Fine." He resentfully hissed and the teens promptly charged at each other. Acting on his fury, Terrence tripped her and felled her onto her stomach. Moving fluidly he knelt on one knee, spread his palm out on her back and looked away from his friend. "Your wish is my _fucking_ command!"

Spikes manifested from the jacket and impaled Alex to the floor.

Her movements slow and elaborate, she brought her head up as a considerate amount of blood began to flow freely from the corners of her mouth and it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay conscious.

Terrence remained blindly enraged as he stood, the spikes quickly disappearing and Alex gasping from the sudden retraction; her head hit the floor with a soft thud a moment later. The battered, bloody teen stalked off to the stairwell and never looked back, leaving his best friend behind to perish in a sea of her own blood.


	7. The Realization Hits!

_**A/N:** Hmm well there's a bit of cursing in this one too. Sorry. So this is the chapter where we branch off and follow Terrence and his adventures with MRD.  
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**Chapter 7: The Realization Hits!**

Leaving the mall with Moss had been a double-edged sword. Terrence was severely angry because of the argument with…but on the other hand, he was glad since he would finally be able to prove to someone he had his own prerogative and his own opinions by joining this coalition. Being swiftly guided outside by Moss, he numbly climbed into a helicopter and sat down; Terrence didn't really register a man giving him some sort of device to put around his neck. After around fifteen minutes the adrenaline wore off and Terrence began staring at his trembling hands and then up at him.

"What did I just do?" he asked. Moss's expression was passive as he remained silent. Terrence went through several emotions including rage, sadness, and frustration. He roared, "What the hell have I done?" The man sitting next to Moss reared back slightly while Moss simply smirked.

"You know what you did," he stated.

"You tricked me!"

"You didn't do anything you didn't want to." Moss told him.

"I did not _want_ to…Alex is my friend; I'd never want to purposely hurt her!"

"Yes. So you go out and downright kill her. Nice." Terrence's anguish was obvious on his face, and soon tears began welling up in his eyes.

"You did me an enormous favor, Terrence." Moss continued.

"What?"

"While your friend is – well, _was_ a very powerful mutant," he began, "she was also a large obstacle in our way."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"We couldn't figure out a way to get rid of her, but then here you came." Terrence blankly but suspiciously stared at him.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I told you–"

"Bullshit!" he harshly whispered, shifting in his seat uncertainly. "You're not with some coalition. Who are you!" Moss eyed him with annoyance.

"I work for MRD. Scratch that; I _run_ MRD." Terrence could have sworn he felt his heart stop at this sudden realization that he had just helped his worst enemy. A slew of thoughts were running through his mind at that moment, but Alex kept recurring in all of them: he'd betrayed her. He had betrayed Alex for his, their enemies. Terrence had helped MRD kill his best friend.

"What's the matter, Terrence? You're looking a little pale." The other man observed.

"You're–I…NO!" the teen yelled, grabbing a nearby seatbelt. "I'll kill both of you!"

"I don't think so," Moss said calmly when nothing happened to the seatbelt. Terrence glanced at it surprised, and gripped it tighter, willing it to change. He felt around his neck and put two and two together.

"What is this thing?"

"It's an inhibitor. You can guess what it inhibits." Terrence rushed to his feet, only to have a needle stuck in his neck above the inhibitor. He grabbed the other man's neck tightly and began to squeeze hard. Moss jumped up and tried to loosen Terrence's grip, but he only succeeded when the drug took effect on him. Terrence soon slumped back down onto the seat, unconscious.

"Well that was fun." Moss smirked, watching his colleague rub his neck. "You alright Trask?"

"I'm fine, but the kid's got a helluva grip,"

"I can imagine." He turned around to talk to the pilot. "How long till we get back to HQ?"

"Two minutes." Moss glanced at Terrence.

"Good. Things are definitely looking up. With these two out of the way, MRD's going to be unstoppable."

* * *

Jerking awake, Terrence's eyes quickly shot open. Not having the slightest clue where he was, his eyes darted around and observed his surroundings.

_Oh good. Looks like an MRD containment facility holding cell._ He sat up and swung his legs around to the side of the bed, rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands and sighing.

"Alex?" he called. "Shit, what did we do last night…?"

"Who's that?" an unfamiliar female voice answered, alarming Terrence to stand up and face the voice.

"Who the hell are you?" Out of the shadows of the cell came an average-sized girl with medium-length brown hair. She wore blue jeans and a light purple shirt.

"You're the newbie here; I should be asking _you_ that question. But since you seem a bit freaked out at the moment…my name's Rachel." The male remained quiet, severely confused. Rachel cleared her throat. "And you are..?"

"T-Terrence. I'm Terrence." He managed. "Where's Alex?"

"I don't know who he is."

"It's a 'she'; the girl that I was brought in with." Now it was Rachel's turn to be confused.

"You were hauled in by yourself. There was no girl with you."

"There had to be! Or else–" Terrence cut himself off, staring at Rachel with widening eyes as the memories came flooding back. Terrence's expression became horror-stricken as he continued to inadvertently stare at Rachel, who was beginning to freak out and had stepped back a few feet. His hand began shaking as he reached for his neck, the inhibitor still fastened tightly around his neck. Terrence stared down at it for the longest time, like he didn't believe it was there, and then slowly looked back up at Rachel. "This…can't be…un–unless…"

"Hey, man, if you're gonna like eat me or something, at least give me some heads up." She nervously joked, seeing the other teen's haunted eyes.

As the full realization hit, Terrence let out a blood-curdling scream.

Rachel also screamed from surprise but stopped way before he did. Terrence backed up to the wall, continuing screaming like he was in the worst pain imaginable; he doubled over, holding his arms over his head protectively as he sucked in a deep breath and yelled again through gritted teeth.

"Hey guys, we got a problem in here!" Rachel yelled into the hallway; she had moved as far away from him as possible and silently watched him scream and yell and shout incoherently to himself all the while kicking and punching the nearby walls. Eventually after a few minutes, Terrence fell down to his hands and knees and placed his forehead to the floor between his arms, his hands balled into fists; it was then that Rachel realized it: he was crying, sobbing his eyes out.

"Terrence…?" she said softly; he merely continued wailing.

"A-Alex–she's… she's dead because of–I killed her… she's dead… oh God she's–_dead_…" the teen whimpered almost inaudibly between loud sobs. Terrence fell onto his side and curled into the fetal position with his back facing her.

"Dead…?" Rachel barely registered two men letting the field down, walking in, and steadily examine the teen. After a moment they stuck him with a needle, apparently a weak sedative; Terrence grew completely silent and then his body relaxed, although quiet sobs still racked his body. The men left, reengaging the door field and leaving the female to wonder about the troubled, drug-induced male.

_Just what the hell did they put this kid through?

* * *

_

A few hours later, Rachel sat back on the cell's single bed and was playing with a deck of cards she won off of another mutant inmate. She was on her eleventh game of Solitaire when she noticed Terrence stir on the floor. Rachel heard him groan, and slowly he sat up holding his head.

"You're not going to completely flip out again are you?" she inquired evenly, earning herself a weary glance.

"No." was his quiet answer. "What the hell happened?"

"You were given a sedative and then I guess you fell asleep; you've been out for hours."

"Right…" Terrence muttered, running a hand over his exhausted face. The teen stopped playing with her cards and observed her new cellmate closely: his hair was disheveled, his clothes were slightly tattered and torn, and his eyes were downcast.

"You look like a guy who's lost something," she began, "What'd they do to you?"

"They, he tricked me…" he replied, "tricked me into…killing Alex."

"And who _is_ this Alex? Your…sister? Girlfriend?"

"My best friend…my only friend," Terrence shamefully looked away from her to his left. "I let my guard down for one second and she had to pay the price. She was just trying to protect me and now she's dead because of my anger and stupidity."

"I'd say it's not your fault but I don't know the whole story." Rachel stated. "But I am sorry. Did they…?"

"No. We got into this big fight and I–I…" his voice wavered.

"Literally?" she said, stunned. "I thought you meant figuratively."

"I left her to die in a pool of her own blood – my best friend! – I can't get the sound of her gasping for breath out of my head!" Terrence covered his head with his arms, beginning to tear up again. "I–I don't, I never wanted to hurt her but Moss, h-he got inside my head…"

"Terrence! Terrence, calm down," Rachel told him, quickly jumping up from her position on the bed and kneeling by him on the floor. The teen looked at her with his watery brown eyes. "I know it's cliché, but it's going to be alright. This may seem like a stupid and rather insensitive question given the circumstances but are you _sure_ she's dead? You _saw_ her die?"

"N–no…I didn't, _see_…" he gave her a confused look, moving his arms down from his head, "Why? What are you getting at?"

"I'm saying there might be a possibility, however slight, that she's still alive."

"I doubt it.." Terrence looked away again, "I…impaled her with spikes.."

"You impal…" Rachel was taken aback. He gave her a nervous, sad smirk and pulled his knees to his chest.

"Tends not to have a high survivability rate," he dejectedly mumbled; the female continued to be silent and tried her best not to stare at him too noticeably.

"I, uh…"

"You got that right, Terrence!" interrupted a happy voice from the door. The teens glanced up to find Moss standing there with his hands in his pockets and a bright smirk on his face. "There's a slim to no chance she survived. Good choice of getting rid of her!"

"Stop talking about Alex like she's some sickness!" Terrence growled.

"Hey, I'm just sayin': your girlfriend's dead and now you're stuck with me." Moss shrugged. "Now this can work one of two ways. One, you can keep with your delinquency behavior and be treated worse than a prison inmate…or two, you can forget about your 'precious' Alex and be treated relatively well.

"I can teach you things," he continued, "how to enhance your powers and make you a true force to be reckoned with. But you have to be willing to give up some things in order to gain others, Terrence. Just the way it is."

"Why didn't you offer me this deal when I got here?" Rachel asked, offended. The colonel glanced at her.

"Come to find out your power isn't…'upgradeable' like we originally thought."

"Then why am I still here?"

"I said your power wasn't upgradeable, I didn't say it wasn't unique." He grinned, but then returned his attention to Terrence. "So what's it gonna be Loverboy?"

"Like you really have a choice.." muttered the irked Rachel. "Choices are nothing but an illusion here. You either do what he says, or you do what he says."

"I can see that." her cellmate muttered back. "What happens if I _don't_ do what he says?"

"What did curiosity do to the cat again?" she crossed her arms and contented herself with throwing mental daggers at their common enemy. Terrence was still debating when he was asked this question, and his internal conflict showed on his face when he somewhat irately glanced up at Moss.

"Fine." He discontentedly agreed. "Teach me how to amplify my powers and I'll…_behave_."

"Thought so. I'll be back in a couple hours." And with that, Moss left the two to themselves. Terrence looked down at his open hand, lost in his thoughts, and Rachel gave him a knowing look.

"I hope you have absolutely no plans to cooperate with that smug bastard." she stated. He balled his hand into a tight fist and looked out the door.

"Oh don't worry, I don't. As soon as he's done with me I'm kicking his ass and getting out of here." Terrence fell onto his back, feeling the coolness of the floor through his clothes and sighed. "Do you really think there's a possibility she's still alive?"

Rachel shrugged and sat down next to his legs, "I don't know, Terrence. I wasn't there so I can't vouch for something I didn't witness."

"God, what I would give just to hear her voice right now…" he whispered, "I never had the chance to tell her…"

"Tell her what?" the female turned to look over at him: he covered his face with his hands and just shook his head.

"It doesn't matter." The male breathed out, laying his arms out beside him and staring at the ceiling. "She'd probably hate me now anyway."

"I'm sorry, Terrence," Rachel told him softly.

"If Alex is alive…if she's out there somewhere... I swear that I'm going to find her."


	8. What? Who's That?

_A/N: So, summer's here and there's enough boredom floating around that I should be able to write like crazy. Though if I keep getting sidetracked hopefully my beta will smack me and make me get back on track. Well here's Chapter 8, enjoy!_

**Chapter 8: What? Who's That?**_  
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A young boy and girl ran down the street, fleeing for their lives. Just a short ways away a band of red Prowler (four legs, large horizontal body) robots followed them, intent on capturing and taking the two back to a MRD containment facility. They ran and ran, but couldn't shake the pursuer. Looking back, the girl accidentally tripped and injured her knee making it virtually impossible to run anymore. The boy stared in muted horror as a Prowler caught up with them and extended its claw-like hand to grab her…

…but all of a sudden something sliced through the hand, causing a piece of it to fall off. The robot reared back from the attack; the siblings looked at the tall man clad in a black short-sleeve jumpsuit-type costume standing in front of him, three razor-sharp claws extended from each hand.

"You alright?" he asked him, momentarily taking his attention away from the robot. She slowly nodded, but soon returned his attention to the Prowler.

"Look out!" the boy yelled, noticing an opening in the side of its head had begun glowing; the Prowler fired its attack, but suddenly a girl, who apparently the man knew, created a field telepathic energy and rendered the attack unsuccessful.

"You have impeccable timing, Jean," The man gruffly complemented.

"Thanks," the telepathic girl said, seeing another young girl phase out of the ground next to the robot's legs. She grabbed the leg and dragged it down into the ground with ease, making it immobile. "Good idea, Kitty."

"Thanks!" she answered enthusiastically when her entire body had appeared out of the ground. while the man turned as a younger male came slowly running towards the group.

"This ain't a social function, Corey; get 'em out of here!" the man yelled at the male teen as he went to attack another robot.

"I'm on it!" The young man confirmed before picked the young girl up and sprinted quickly out of harm's way, placing her on a bench.

"Who are you?" the young girl asked, a bit of fear in her voice.

"I'm Shift. I'm, we're mutants, same as you." He gently reassured. "We're just to help. What's your name?"

"J-Jennifer.."

"And I'm Jeremy." The boy spoke up.

"Well, you guys don't have to worry; you're safe now."

"But, will your friends be okay? Those things are really strong." Jennifer said.

"Don't worry; they'll be fine–" he was cut off by an explosion, and they both glanced behind Shift just in time to see two of his friends, one a female with signature white bangs and the other shooting red optic blasts, fly backwards through the air. She landed on her back and he flipped over to his feet, readying a counter, only to get hit by another blast. "God, I hate when I'm proven wrong.."

"Damnit!" she screamed before they were engulfed by smoke from another attack.

"Rogue!"

"S-Shift.." Jeremy stuttered, pointing to his right. Another wave of Prowlers had spotted them and was advancing. And to make things worse, a couple Prowlers that had managed to have not been destroyed from the first group were also coming towards them again.

"Aw crap! It's times like these when I wish my ability was useful in battle..." he muttered. Shift quickly glanced back over to where his teammates were and suddenly felt alone. Though luckily (I suppose you could call it luck) Wolverine was thrown back towards the duo, and put the teen's mind somewhat at ease.

"Where the hell is everybody else?" Wolverine growled, blood streaming down his face.

"Storm said they'd work their way from the north side of the city to here." Shift informed.

"Well, they need to work a little quicker!" he said, avoiding an attack. "We're gonna have some real problems if they don't show up soon."

As if on cue a group of people similarly dressed as Wolverine appeared and made a line on either side of him to protect the three from the impending attacks.

"Where's Statix?" An African American woman with silverish-white hair inquired.

"Nightcrawler, take them to the jet," he first ordered the blue demon-looking member of his team, then gave her an odd look. "I thought she was with you."

"She was, but–"

"We'll deal with her later, Storm!" He told her. "Gals, the group on the right is yours; guys, we'll handle the other. Now move!" Wolverine snapped. The team fought off MRD for a while, though more foot soldiers kept showing up. Defeating all the Prowlers proved not to be such a strenuous task, but soon they found themselves trapped by soldiers and dark MRD vans.

"This isn't good," Nightcrawler observed anxiously in a heavy German accent. The rest of the team stood in silence, with Wolverine standing in front snarling in annoyance.

"Damnit Statix, where the hell are you?" he growled.

"Mutants, stand down and we will not open fire!" the apparent solider in charge yelled. He interrupted by a large clap of thunder; everyone glanced up to see a large, swiftly moving tornado of electricity heading toward the ground.

"Storm.." Wolverine took a tentative step back.

"It's not me!" she confessed. It hit the ground with considerable force and proceeded to cut a path through the MRD personnel.

"Whoa.." the young kids said in awe. The mutants relaxed and watched the tornado tear through their enemy with ease. Eventually the MRD soldiers were all taken out and they all saw the funnel calm down and then fade away. A teenage girl was revealed to have been in the middle of the tornado; she had her back to them, but her black and gray costume was easily visible. She turned around to face the team as they dispersed around the area; Wolverine walked straight over to her.

"Huh, chicks against dicks? Yeah; real original, Logan."

"Where have you been?" He ignored her sarcasm.

"So I got lost traversing a large city I've only lived in for six months. Sue me."

"Fine. Come on; we've still got some work to do."

"There's more?" She unhappily asked.

"It gets better. Another group of Prowlers has been deployed in the central part of the city. That's where everyone's headed now."

"To make up for my tardiness, I'll clear the next area before you get there." She smirked, shooting off the ground in thin line of lightning.

* * *

With his hands folded on his lap, Professor Xavier waited patiently as his X-men returned from their most recent mission. Most of them looked to have sustained only minor to moderate injuries; he watched one specific member now: Statix. Her costume was torn open in several places and had drying blood in places.

Statix had just recently joined the team and, while she was a very powerful mutant for her age, she was also very smart and even managed to outwit Scott and Jean in class sometimes.

But not all about her was good.

Statix had almost been killed before coming to the X-Mansion. She was in a huge fight with a friend and had lost. So it should come to be no surprise that...

...Statix was really Alex House.

She'd somehow lived despite being impaled by Terrence and had been brought under Xavier's care. Alex's injuries healed in the following months and, even though she had made friends, seemed to be becoming more distant. As of late, she'd been spending more time training and enhancing her powers by herself; and by now she'd been on several missions as a member of the X-Men, but this was the first solely against MRD. Apparently, it'd gone kind of badly.

"Xavier," Wolverine greeted when he approached the professor.

"Logan, how did everything go?"

"Went well. We hit 'em hard." Xavier imperceptibly motioned to Alex.

"Apparently they hit back. How is she?"

"Fine. She took a minor ass whoopin' but she'll be okay. But..." He paused.

"But?"

"Hey, Logan?" The two glanced over and saw Alex standing there with a dirty tanktop that had a few bandages under it. Alex motioned over her shoulder and said, "Corey doesn't know what to do with the kids."

"Of course he doesn't," he sighed. Logan quickly walked off muttering something vulgar under his breath. Alex glanced back at the professor and shrugged.

"How are you doing?" He changed the subject.

"Peachy. But regardless, I have to go study. I've got like seven tests to reta-I mean, take." She answered, hastily taking her leave. By the time Logan had come back five minutes later, the professor had a concerned expression on his face.

"What is it now?" the blue-haired mutant inquired.

"Something is deeply bothering Alex. I received a call from the Bayville High principal; apparently she does not appear at school for days at a time. And when she does show up, she is very irritable and uncooperative." He informed. Logan crossed his arms over his chest. "That behavior isn't like Alex. We need to get her to talk about whatever it is before things get any worse."

"I'll get her to talk." He stated as he left. The professor left Logan to whatever he planned on doing and made his rounds around the team and eventually made his way to his office after ten minutes, running into Corey on the way.

"Hi Professor," he greeted meekly.

"Hello Corey. Is there something on your mind?" he wheeled into his office with the teen tailing along.

"Yeah um, it's…Alex," he replied, scratching the back of his head. "Not that I don't believe Logan or anything, but…"

"What is it, Corey?"

"She's grown really powerful and I don't know how much longer she'll listen to anybody. I mean, she already doesn't listen to anyone at school." Xavier's face remained passive but his interest was certainly piqued. Considering this was coming from one of the friends she had made while at the mansion, the fact that he shared Logan and his own fears spoke volumes.

"How do you mean?"

"S-she's kind of a bully. She antagonizes Lance and Pietro and randomly zaps Toad whenever she gets the chance. Generally she's reckless and she takes unnecessary risks." He explained, shrugging. "Plus I've observed her during these last couple missions and–"

Both heard a rumbling sound and glanced out one of the windows to the right just in time to see someone fly out of the mansion's basement level. Corey stared in surprise while Xavier moved back around his desk, trying to see what exactly was going on. Soon another person came out of the hole and landed near the first person.

"Corey, find Storm and meet me outside." The professor ordered sternly as he exited the room.

_Logan, what have you done now?_

* * *

"Aw hell," Hearing himself heave an annoyed sigh, Logan frowned and sat up to face the teen. Alex silently stood with staring at him with an infuriated expression. "I don't suppose you've got any interest in talking this out?"*

"Shut up." Alex growled. _They never do._ he said to himself, sighing again as he stood up. Logan began to slowly walk to his right when she did the same and stared him down. He shook his head.

"Look, I was just trying to see what's wrong. Stupid way of doing it, I know, but-" The teen's bangs swayed slowly from side to side when she wordlessly stopped with her hands balled into tight fists. "I'm not going to have your blood on my hands, kid."

"Fine." Logan unconsciously blinked, and in that nanosecond Alex had closed the gap between them; he hurriedly blocked quick attacks and leaned back far to avoid a kick. He noticed a faint streak of electricity followed each of her hands and feet.

"Goddamnit," Logan muttered when she head-butted him after he'd tried to restrain her. The attack didn't affect him in the least of course, but Alex stumbled back holding her head. The instructor frowned again when Alex's hand moved to reveal blood from a wound covering her left eye.

"What's going on?" came a voice. Logan and Alex glanced at the source; Corey and Storm came running out the mansion following Professor Xavier.

"I was just tryin' to–"

"He's insinuating things that aren't true," Alex irately filled in for Logan, who shrugged.

"Hey it makes sense: you two were close best friends always in each other's company and then he betrayed you; now you're naturally inclined to hate him because of it. You're angry with him–"

"I'm _beyond_ angry with him!"

"But you still love him-"

"No I don't!" she yelled, electricity angrily cackling around her forearms, "I want to rip his _goddamn_ heart out and make him suffer the pain he put me through!"

_Alex, calm down._ She heard Xavier's voice plead in her mind. The teen vigorously shook her head and gripped its sides. _I understand that you're angry and upset and hurt, but you're out of control. You're going to hurt someone–_

"Get out of my head!" Alex shot a fierce glare at the telepath.

_Alex, please–_

"No!" she screamed, hyperventilating. Logan took the opportunity to quickly restrain her on the ground by holding her arms behind her back and putting his knee between her shoulder blades. Alex struggled fervently, but her instructor didn't let up.

"Damnit, settle down! Listen to me!" he tried.

"Get off!" she roared. Logan looked up at the professor, noting his troubled expression. Then electricity began cackling around him and circulated through and around Logan's body extremely fast. Eventually Alex curved her legs back and placed her feet under Logan's armpits to throw him off of her. She flipped back onto her feet and darted toward Logan intent on attacking again.

"Alex, don't!" He shouted, his claws from both hands extending to protect himself. After a minute her attacks and his parries became too fast for anyone to see; the teen let out a loud enraged shriek and then one of her attacks finally found its target: through Logan's chest, strikingly close to his heart.

Blood splattered onto Alex's face and hair as well as up arm, and as she stepped back it dripped onto the ground from her fingers. Struggling to take a breath, Logan wheezed as he heavily dropped to the ground; Alex stared at him for a few long seconds, still breathing quickly but gradually slowing and coming back to her senses. The teen observed her bloodied hand then apprehensively looked up at the other three and those who had gathered to watch from the window, who could do nothing but stare at her in silent astonishment. They all remained silent before she took a few uncertain steps back from them.

"No, w-wait!" Corey shouted.

But it was too late; Alex abruptly vanished in a flash of light.

_*I have a challenge for anyone who's reading this, or at least this chapter. I used an exact quote in this chapter. It's in this last section, and it's the first things Logan says. If you can tell me where it's from, I'll give you a cookie! ^^ Ok not really, but you'll get recognized in the next chapter's author's note. ^^_


	9. I Couldn't Think of a Title!

_A/N: Well school's not becoming any easier so I'm going to wrap this story up in two chapters. Pretty handy isn't it? Just like my beta said at some point in time, college does not allow for us to juggle two stories at once. It's practically impossible. Well, it is possible, I'd just prefer not to fail all my classes. So if these last two chapters seem rushed...__*thumbs up* __then you're right. And yes, I'm serious about the title.  
_

**Chapter 9: I Couldn't Think of a Title!  
**

When Logan regained consciousness, he was greeted by the familiar beeping of a heartbeat monitor. He sat up, disconnecting himself from all the equipment. He glanced down at his chest, covering the spot where the giant hole had been. Logan sighed and slid off the table.

"Oh! You're awake!" the young girl with white bangs and a southern drawl said in relief. "I was starting to wonder if you were gonna wake up."

"You shouldn't have been." he replied gruffly.

"I saw the tail-end of the fight; what'd you do to her?"

"I didn't _do_ anything," Logan sighed, slipping his shirt on. "She snapped. All there is to it."

"Sounds like somethin' you'd cause," she smirked.

"Thanks Rogue." he frowned. He paused momentarily. "Where is she?"

"No idea."

"She's not here at the mansion?" he clarified incredulously. Rogue shook her head.

"She disappeared yesterday after the fight and ain't been seen since." Logan gave her a surprised look.

"Xavier didn't send anyone after her?" She shook her head again. He walked past her to leave the room, then stopped suddenly. "If you see Jean tell her I'll clean up in here later."

"Yeah, like that'll happen." she said. Logan shrugged and darted down the hallway. He made his way to Xavier's office, shoving the door open without knocking.

"Good to see you're up and about, Logan." he greeted.

"Why haven't you sent anyone after Alex?" the blue-haired guy demanded.

"She needs space and time to think. I did not pursue her because I do not want her to feel pressured and possibly attack the team."

"Where is she now?" he inquired, not really expecting such an elaborate answer.

"I don't know." Xavier confessed, glancing out the window. "I'm not sure how but I think she has found a way to become invisible to Cerebro's eye."

"Kid always was resourceful," Logan muttered with a frown, crossing his arms. "What happens now?"

"Well, since you've recovered-" the professor cut himself off.

"Charles?"

"Something is happening." he stated.

"'Something'? Something like what? Is it Alex?"

"No." Xavier glanced up with a look of shock. "It's Terrence."

* * *

_"I hate these blaring alarms."_ Terrence thought to himself as he walked down the hall with his hands in his pockets._ "I understand there's a mutant uprising going on but these alarms are enough to give a guy a migraine the size of Alaska."_

He continued walking, soon hearing shouts behind him. He casually glanced over his shoulder, seeing Moss and Trask running around the corner. Followed by them was a group of guards, all aiming their weapons at him.

"Terrence!" Moss yelled. "Just what in the hell do you think you're doing!"

"I'm leaving," the teen said like it was the most obvious answer ever.

"You - are not permitted to leave!" Trask argued. He glared at the opposing group.

"I'll do whatever the hell I please! You already took Alex away; I wont allow you to take my freedom or anything else away from me!"

"Shoot him!" Moss ordered. Terrence held his hand out and quickly flicked his wrist up; without touching the floor he generated sharp metal columns that stabbed up into the guards' weapons and the guards themselves.

"Get real. Like I'd let them pump me full of lead." Moss glared at him fiercely as they collapsed to the ground in front of them.

"Damn your conniving ass, you planned this from the start didn't you?"

"You're damn right I did. I was only using you to enhance my powers and then it's sayonara MRD." Terrence affirmed, replacing his hand at his side. "How could you expect me to forget my best friend just like that? And especially after what I did to her! What you tricked me into doing to her!"

"You are the property of MRD and you are to stop this foolishness right now!" Trask tried, garnering a laugh from him.

"'Property'?" he laughed again. "Just who the hell you think you're talking to? I'm not owned by anyone, especially not by you losers."

"Why you...!" they fumed. Terrence reached out in front of himself again.

"Well I'd love to stay and chat but...oh, wait. No I wouldn't." He made a swiping motion from right to left and a metal wall jetted out connecting the two pre-existing walls, effectively cutting the two parties off from one another. Terrence stared at his wall, then at his hand in wonder. He'd killed six people and he didn't feel the slightest bit of remorse. He hesitantly grinned to himself.

He liked this feeling, this feeling of power.

Terrence turned on his heel, sprinting down the hall. He ran into a few stragglers and promptly took them out. He grinned the whole time, especially when he bounded over a railing and down onto the ground floor of a large hangar. He stood slowly, glancing around for any soldiers.

_"Terrence? Where are you?"_ a voice in his head questioned.

_"I'm almost out of here, Will."_ he thought, continuing forward._ "How's everything going?"_

_"All according to your plan. The riot's going on, Moss and Trask are being monitored, and you're all clear to get out."_ Suddenly a loud rumbling filled the hangar. Terrence glanced over to his right to find two angry glowing eyes coming around a divider. It was a Sentinel, and it was advancing toward him._ "Shit, looks like they activated one of the older models to stop you!"_

"'Stop me', huh?" Terrence gripped his wrist as his hand morphed into a long blade. He glared up at it. "Guess this is their version of a send-off party."

* * *

Walking with his hands in his pockets again, Terrence made his way away from the giant hole in the side of the hangar and the beheaded Sentinel. He eventually made his way to the city, wandering around aimlessly until sirens assaulted his eardrums.

"Already?" he sighed, noticing the familiar MRD vans and personnel. "I barely left forty-five minutes ago."

"Look, there he is!" a grunt shouted. He sighed again, moving to attack them. He spiraled into a rage, not really conscious of what he was doing. He began destroying buildings and anything that happened to get in his way as he tore through the city. Soon a group of people appeared near him, and Terrence stood before the them, blinded by power.

"Who the hell are you freaks?" he inquired rudely.

"We're the X-men, and I'm Wolverine." the leader stated, earning a glare.

"X-men, huh? I've heard of you." A cloud of blue smoke appeared next to him, but Terrence calmly avoided the attack and hit the blue demon with a well-placed hammer-punch to the face. Then a red optic blast came from his right, and, much to everyone's surprise, absorbed it into his hand and then threw it back at him at three times the speed. The blast hit him in the chest and he flew into a nearby building.

"Kurt! Scott!" the white-haired African American woman yelled in shock. Wolverine was growling in front of the group, deciding what to do.

"This kid's too powerful for us outright fight. He's seemed to have honed on his ability, allowing him to change the molecular composition of the his own body in addition to virtually anything around him." He muttered. She gave him a pained look, shaking her head.

"I'm done playing games with you people." Terrence warped his arm into a giant blackjack, swinging it around to attack them with a mighty yell. Everyone remaining scattered except Logan, who stood his ground.

"Come on kid; hit me with all ya got!" he taunted as the spiked ball came rushing toward him.

But suddenly a quick flash of gray appeared and it stopped.

"What!" Terrence questioned. Whatever force had canceled out his attack was very powerful, and his weapon was carelessly thrown over to the side. A lone girl floated in the air before him, her right arm outstretched from stopping the attack. She lifted her head, giving him a dark smirk.

"Long time no see. Terrence." Everyone's eyes bulged in surprise.

"Alex...!"

_To Be Concluded…!_


	10. The Final Confrontation!

_A/N: Aaaaand here's the final chapter. Posting two chapters at once is unlike me but now I have the satisfaction of this story finally being complete. WHOO! And yes I totally ripped the title from the Final Fantasy 7 strategy guide. What is with my unoriginal titles as of late?  
_

**Chapter 10: The Final Confrontation!**

Alex landed within fighting distance of her friend, observing him intently. While he seemed to recognize her, Terrence appeared to her as having an internal battle with himself. His eyes were crazy and his pupils were small, and Alex wondered briefly how much MRD had to do with their current situation.

"You...you're dead..." he told her.

"I look pretty damn good for a dead chick, don't I?"

"I k-killed you...!" Terrence ground out, looking like he was losing control of his body.

"Alex, don't! Something's wrong!" Logan called from behind her.

"No shit, Sherlock." she muttered sarcastically. Alex glanced back at him. "Keep MRD off my back. I'll take care of him."

"You can't beat him!" Storm argued. She looked back at her friend.

"I don't need to." Terrence finally snapped, morphing his arms into long katanas. He looked up at her.

"I...can't stop..." he groaned, his body readying itself for an attack. "A-Alex..help me.."

"Don't get involved, Alex!" Logan shouted.

"Don't worry; I'll knock some sense back into you." She held her arms out and they were surrounded by electricity all the way up to her shoulders.

"That's new." he stated, referring to the darkened electricity.

"C'mere and I'll show you what else is new." she taunted. With a yell Terrence lunged at her.

_"Damn, he's gotten faster."_ she thought, barely dodging his slashes. Alex leaned back to avoid an attack aimed at her face, then blocked as he swung his other arm around._ "But so have I!"_ Taking advantage of his open spot, she quickly pushed his arm away, landed a few punches to his gut and then a hard roundhouse kick to his jaw. Terrence flew back and she smirked, waiting for him.

"You've gotten slow, Terrence."

"I was testing your fighting level. Nothing more." he informed. She glared at him, her top lip twitching in annoyance.

"Get up." Alex ordered, walking toward him.

"Alex-"

"Don't you have something to do?" she irately cut the X-men leader off. A beat of silence followed, and she sighed. "I'll be fine, Logan. Go."

He hesitated, but then looked at Storm. She held his same fear but let out a resigned sigh.

"Don't get yourself killed, again." He warned quietly before he turned to run off in front of the team, who reluctantly followed.

"You're gonna pay for that," Terrence growled. Alex just grinned, falling into her fighter stance.

"Make me regret it!"

* * *

A building collapsed. Cars exploded.

Alex landed on her feet, bouncing away onto the side of a building. She panted loudly while blood dripped from numerous cuts on her body. Her hair fell down to the bottom of her neck and her face; her jacket had long been cut and fallen off of her. Alex ran across the roof of another building, jumping from it to the ground and turning around. She dodged to the right as the giant hammer came down with the intent of smashing her head; when her feet touched the ground, she realized he'd turned the street into quicksand.

"Shit!"

"I've got you now!" Alex glanced up in time to see him rushing at her.

"Like hell you do!" Electricity flowed around her hand and she threw a powerful shockwave punch at him in an attempt to ward him off. Terrence was hit hard and flew into a building across on the other side of the street. Alex freed herself and floated above the deadly sand; she touched down where it was safe, but suddenly felt a long spear slice her stomach when she tried to avoid it.

"What's the matter, Alex? Had enough?" Terrence taunted, blood dripping from his broken nose but in much better shape than she was. She shot a ball of electricity at his head from her palm; he blocked it by turning his forearm into a shield. Bringing it down he was surprised to find Alex up right in front of him, her hand then covering his face and pushing him backward. "What the-"

"Move bitch, move bitch, MOVE BITCH!" she yelled, skidding to a stop and launching him clear across the area and into the park.

"Wow that was unexpected." Terrence admitted, getting up a few moments later and brushing himself off. He made his way out of the park and found her patiently waiting for him. "And here I thought you were almost done for."

"Not even close." She was gripping her abdomen with one hand, giving him a stubborn stare. He grinned at her fatigue, then laughed.

"Well considering I thought you were dead, I didn't think you would have anything new up your sleeve."

"You wish." Alex stated, standing up straight. "Your fighting style is different from our first fight; it's matured. And while you have gotten stronger, you're not as powerful as me."

"A likely claim you'd make," he said, raising his arm-katanas again. "I think it's time we ended this."

"I couldn't agree more," Alex surrounded her arms with electricity, her own katanas appearing. "Come on Terrence. Let's see which of us is the strongest."

"With pleasure!" Terrence attacked her, the metal clanging echoing through the streets. They bounced around, each trying for the first opening they saw.

"Could you really hurt me again, Terrence?" she inquired as they fought. "I'm your friend, your best friend!"

"Shut up!" he yelled, his eyes struggling to return to normal. A few moments later it had succeeded, and Alex knew she was getting through to him.

"Terrence, it's me! This isn't a mirage! I'm alive!" she tried. "Come on, snap out of it!"

He continued fighting as if he hadn't heard, and in fact his attacks intensified. She had trouble dodging and blocking, especially when he unexpectedly changed one of his arms into a mallet and hit her over the head. Alex flew down the street and fell over herself a few times until she came to a stop.

"Damn," Terrence watched as she pushed off the ground, stopping to prop herself up on her forearm. With a running start he changed his foot into metal and kicked her in the gut. She screamed in pain, flying into a parked car and collapsing to the ground. Terrence dragged her to a nearby wall, slamming her against it by the front of her shirt.

"You don't know when to give up, do you?" he questioned in a bored tone.

"What're you...talking about?" she panted, standing on wobbly feet. She smirked as uneven streams of blood fell from the corners of her mouth. "I'm just getting warmed up."

"How do you plan to win, Alex? It's obvious that I'm the stronger one now."

"Who said anything about winning?" she inquired.

"What?" Terrence was caught off-guard by her response.

"I told you I was going to knock some sense back into you." Alex elaborated. "I never said anything about fighting just to win."

"That's stupid. You always fight to win." he stated.

"We're fighting two different battles, Terrence. You're fighting to beat me; I'm fighting to get my best friend back. After some thinking I've come to the conclusion that I can't blame you for what you happened. I forgive you, and I want my best friend back, you bastard!"

"If one doesn't fight to win, they are already the losers!" Terrence yelled.

"Shut up, that's not the real you talking! I want the real Terrence back so we can be together again! So we can go back to Vegas and cheat the casinos! So-"

Alex cut herself off as she felt a sharp pain in her side. Terrence regarded her silently as she tried to speak, but ended up hacking and gasping. She slowly looked down, suddenly aware of the dark blood pouring from where his katana had stabbed her.

"T-Ter..?" Alex questioned, tears filling her eyes. His face was expressionless as he stared at her, though his eyes showed the faintest glint of recognition. A long moment passed before his body relaxed and his eyes softened.

"Alex...?" he whispered, unsure. She only managed to just barely suppress the blood trying to splutter from her mouth in response. Rain began quietly tapping on and around the two, but they could've cared less. Alex watched his eyes fade back to normal and he looked down at her side in the same fashion she had. "Oh my God..."

"G-glad you're...b-back to your old s-self.." she grunted mostly with a weak smile. Tears fell down Terrence's face as he looked back up at her.

"I...I-" he stuttered. "I'm...so sorry..."

Terrence removed the blade to return his hand back to normal, and her legs buckled immediately; he caught her but they still both fell to their knees. Alex's head dropped down to her chest, and his arms slowly encircled her wet body.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." he repeated, a sob escaping his chest. The tears fell one after the other as he placed a hand on her hair when she quietly groaned and coughed, spitting drops of warm blood on him. "Alex...please...I'm sorry.."

"Ter...nce," a barely audible whisper came.

Terrence lifted her dead weight up to lean her back against the wall. She looked at him blearily, a ghost of a smirk appearing on her face.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," he explained, shaking his head. "You always get hurt because of me."

"This was...the only way...I could - g-get th-through to you.." she explained, then muttering as her eyelids drooped, "The things I d-do for love.."

He smiled sadly, shedding his jacket to put pressure on her wound; she jerked away and gasped but soon relaxed. Terrence cupped her cheek to make her look at him.

"Don't leave me again," he pleaded softly. Alex mumbled something incoherently but then her eyes slipped shut and she heard him call her frantically.

"'m fine, Terrence...promise," Her unfocused eyes popped back open, but slowly drifted shut again. "Jus' tired..let me sleep.."

"Okay." he conceded quietly. He moved to sit behind her, pulling her into his chest and laying her head in the crook of his neck. He watched the rain, observing all the damage their fight had caused. If he hadn't come to his senses, they might have been forced to kill each other.

"Thank you...for knocking some sense back into me. I owe you." Terrence whispered into the wet hair of her still form.

"...big time," Alex slurred groggily. Slipping his arm around her he put pressure on the wound again, not surprised when she didn't respond; he relaxed, feeling her tired shoulder melt into his chest.

"I'll be here when you wake up," he assured, then sighing in relief. He'd gotten his best friend back from the dead, and she didn't hate his guts. In fact, she loved him. Loved him enough to risk her life to challenge his rage and bring him back to his real self. Terrence smiled and gingerly laid his head back against the wall, settling in to wait for the X-men to find them.

Despite the rain, things were beginning to look sunny again.

He frowned. "But I'm still not getting you that CSI guy for your birthday."

_A/N: Crappy end. I know. But who cares (sarcasm, I do)._


End file.
